Miranda Phelps honored for winning state swimming title

The big news delivered to the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education on Nov. 24 was that Belleville High School freshman Miranda Phelps won the Michigan Highschool Athletic Association Division 1 State Title in Girls 100-Yard Backstroke at the swimming and diving competition on Nov. 21 at Oakland University.
Girls swimming coach Aaron Lange showed a 56-minute-long video of her performance in the final competition, delighting the board and members of the audience, who broke out into applause. Her time was 56.07 seconds.
The announcement was part of the board’s annual Fall Sports Recognition. Athletic Director Joseph Brodie said the football team did well and it won its eighth-straight KLAA championship. He then turned the microphone over to Lange who focused on his girl swimmers. He said there are 13 young girls on the team, with only two seniors who will be leaving. That means most of his strong swimmers will be back.
He introduced the swim team members present at the meeting: Natalie Hungerford, Tabitha Hungerford, Miranda Phelps, Sadie Ethridge, and Keira Frederick. He said that they all did well and Sadie was an outstanding freshman.
Then he focused on Miranda, who qualified for the state meet and then took first place in the state in the 100-yard backstroke.
In other business at the 50-minute public meeting, the board:
• Approved a field trip for April 18-20 for 30 students, grades 10-12, to Chicago to attend the American Beauty Show. Families will cover the individual cost of $300 for the trip by Amtrak train, the stay at the hotel, and the daytime educational sessions and evening tours in Chicago. Those attending must currently be enrolled in Cosmetology, Esthetics, Natural Hair, or Manicuring at Belleville High School and must be passing their course at the time of the trip.. Teacher/sponsor of the trip is Ozenia Cosey-Nolen;
• Approved the resignation of Rawsonville Elementary School Principal Julia Pitts as of Dec. 1 after 1.5 years of service. Later in the meeting school superintendent Pete Kudlak said interviews are under way to fill the position and they expect to have a recommendation for the board by the Dec. 15 meeting. Then the person will have to give notice to wherever the person works now;
• Approved the resignations of bus drivers Tonyetta Dickson and Martisha Palmer as of Nov. 17 after a year of service each and the resignation of Belleville High School paraprofessional Toriyana Mayes as of Nov. 18 after 2.5 years of service;
• Approved the following non-instructional employees recommended for employment: Garrett Kochan for BHS food service as of Nov. 12, Kimberly Johnson as Edgemont Elementary School secretary as of Nov. 17, Devontae Crimes as a school bus driver as of Nov. 17, and Tina Cazoneri as a paraprofessional at McBride Middle School at a time to be determined;
• Heard curriculum director Jill Marvaso say she went to Indianapolis with other staff members and people from Wayne County RESA to a session of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. She said she learned a lot about what is necessary for a regional program;
• Heard director of human resources John Leroy say he attended the Van Buren Public Schools Education Foundation fund raiser and it raised almost $15,000. He said Aaron Lange wrote all the questions and answers for the Trivia Night. Supt. Kudlak said Margo DeLibera did a great job in planning the event;
• Heard BHS student Sydney Lasenby, president of the Class of 2027, say the winter sports are coming up and the Unified teams will be playing basketball and indoor cheering. She said she is very proud of longtime friend Miranda Phelps and her state championship;
• Heard Kudlak say he distributed at the meeting printouts of a color circle cut into pie pieces, showing athletic funding that totals $1,056,998. He said the “salary” part of the circle of $25.9% ($273,315) covers the athletic director, his assistant, and a third employee. Another section shows benefits. He said the “equipment” part of 2.9% is $11,000 and last year they paid $30,000 for hurdles so it was over what was set aside. Kudlak said helmets and uniforms are a part of the supplies portion of 10.8% of the budget at $114,000 and includes e-sports. He said he put together the colored circle showing the athletic budget because the board asked about it recently;
• Heard board member Dionne Falconer say McBride Middle School has an Adopt a Tiger Wishlist where people can help families with basic things like clothes detergent. Board members said they were interested in seeing the list so they could help;
• Heard board secretary Darlene Loyer-Gerick say she has set up another all day craft show at BHS on March 14 to support Tiger Village. She said she will be accepting donations of items for the sale;
• Heard board member Calvin Hawkins say a parent asked him about the district’s I-Ready program and how it works. He said he thinks there should be a tutorial so parents can learn about it;
• Heard board member Victor DeLibera say he went to a Michigan Association of School Boards’ training session in Traverse City and there was a workshop with the whole Livonia School Board who told about their workshops before board sessions. It is an open meeting where board members discuss what’s coming up on the agenda. He said he thinks it might be a good idea that leads to transparency. Board president Amy Pearce agreed, but she was interested in the frequency of such a work/study. She said board members could share information from MASB classes they have taken;
• Heard president Pearce say the Jazz Band Concert is Dec. 4 and the BHS Marching Band will be in the Dec. 6 Winterfest parade, that steps off at 5:15 p.m. She also announced that Tyler Elementary School is now using the Leader in Me program in art classes, especially the second rule, “to begin with the end in mind.” She said BHS has had 95% attendance for the past two weeks. She said the NJROTC helped with the veterans’ program at BHS on Nov. 11. She announced that Aaron Watkins, applied technology teacher at BHS, has successfully completed his NOCTI (National Occupational Testing Institute) FANUC Certified Robot Operator Instructor exam. She said with this accomplishment, BHS is now only a sample video lesson submission away from being able to award students course completion certificates for the FANUC Level 1 Robot Operator – Handling Tool Operations & Programming course upon finishing the Mechatronics class. Students will also have the opportunity to pursue the NOCTI FANUC Certified Robot Operator with Roboguide industry-recognized credential. These advancements bring the program closer to its goal of helping students become career-ready immediately after high school, she said;.
• Heard parent Angela Mears announce the BHS Class of 2026 earned $365 at its last Hungry Howie’s dine to donate event and another one is coming up Dec. 17 at the Hungry Howie’s restaurant in Van Buren Township. She said they need 38 orders mentioning the BHS Class of 2026 to get the donation. She said another Class of 2026 dine to donate is Dec. 22 at the Red Robin on Carpenter Road in Ypsilanti. The donations being gathered are for that class’ graduation party at the end of the year;
• Heard retired teacher Ginny Gearns thank the board members for their time, energy and effort to work to make the district a great place to be. She and her husband, another retired teacher, raised three sons who went to school in the district and one of the sons is carrying on the tradition of working for the school district. “People don’t take the time to say thank you,” she said to the board members and staff and presented them with brownies she had baked for them;
• Went into closed-door session at 7:50 p.m. to discuss Kudlak’s personnel evaluation and to consider material exempt from discussion or disclosure by state or federal status. The board was expected to vote on an administrative item after the closed meeting, but at 11:17 p.m., the board meeting adjourned and no action was taken on that agenda item, which was called “31aa Funding Resolution Recommendation.”