This year Cedar Springs will receive the Green School Chairman’s Award for district-wide energy savings!

The district accepted its fourth Kent County Chairman’s Award for district-wide energy savings. Here are some of the great things we are doing that helped win the award.

Cedar Springs’s District-wide Energy Management Program began in May of 2004 and uses research on energy use, both mechanical and human, to drive changes.

Energy Manager works with the maintenance staff to ensure mechanical efficiency and educates faculty and other staff about the importance of energy savings.

Staff take pride in their efforts to save energy knowing those saved dollars are returning to the classrooms.

The program has saved the district more than $1.25 million so far, or 26%. In the last year alone, they saved $240,000, or 33%.

The reduction in carbon dioxide use is equal to 200,000 trees growing for ten years, or removing 1,400 cars from the road for one year.

The following schools in the district will receive 2012 Green School Chairman’s award:

Cedar Springs Middle School
Cedar Trails Elementary School
Cedar View Elementary
Red Hawk Elementary

Congratulations!

Please join with school foodservice programs across Michigan during the week of May 14, 2012 to celebrate Michigan products* in our school lunches!

Cedar Springs Public Schools announces the sponsorship of the Summer Food Service Program for Children.  Free meals will be made available to children 18 years of age and under or persons up to age 26 who are enrolled in an educational program for the mentally or physically disabled that is recognized by a State or local public educational agency.  The meals will be provided without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service.  Meals will be provided at the site listed below:

Red Hawk Elementary School

204 E. Muskegon St

Cedar Springs, MI 49319

Monday through Thursday – June 11^th to August 24^th, 2012

Breakfast served 8:00am to 9am

Lunch served 11:00am to 12:30pm

Cedar Springs Public Schools Campus will be closed July 2 – July 6, 2012

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In accordance with Federal Law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call toll free (866) 632-9992 (Voice).  Individuals who are hearing impaired or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339; or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish).   USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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2nd Trimester Honor Roll is here!

Click link to download!

HonorRoll2ndTrimester

All of the incredible student projects will be on display Tuesday, April 24, 6-8 pm for the Cedar Springs Fine Arts Night at the high school.

What a talented group of art students we have in Cedar Springs!  All grades have been busy working on wonderful projects that are developing their artistic skills and challenging their creative thinking.

Middle School eighth graders just completed their clay project, which was based on face jugs produced in North Carolina in the 1800’s. Students decorated their bottles with whimsical facial expressions full of detail and humor.

7th graders continued with their study of “dwellings” by making clay houses. Students could choose to make their house realistic or fantastical mushroom houses. All of them were amazing.

Red Hawk sixth graders are busy honing their basic drawing skills, learning to draw three dimensional forms and adding shading and shadows to their drawings. They will add to their drawing talents landscapes, cityscapes, perspective drawings and figure and cartoon drawing.

Cedar View 5th graders are in the middle of their medieval unit. They just completed their clay goblets and are learning about the role of knights in our history. They will be making a textured tin knight using a relief tooling method. 4th graders are in their “form” unit and just completed their clay owls. They are now beginning their papier mache pies. They look so real you might mistake them for an actual snack!

We would love for you to join us for a grand art adventure this night and meet some of our talented artists.

The High School Special Olympics Basketball Team, with eight students from Mr. White’s class, took first place at the State Unified Basketball Tournament. The students played two games and won both, with a score of 24-18 in the first and 32-30 in overtime in the second game. The students received gold medals at the medal ceremony.

Congratulations to the team!

Students in the fourth grade classrooms of Mr. Gregory and Mr. Moleski were taught a very valuable lesson in economics. The lesson, titled Save and Score, was presented in mid-February to the eager listeners.  The program is sponsored by the Lake Michigan Credit Union and the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The students learned about the four different ways to save money.  The various ways include:

1) short term investments

2) donations

3) spending

4) long term investments

With inquisitive questions and a keen interest to learn, our students once again exemplified how we use our Habits of Mind at Cedar View.  This was witnessed by the two presenters from LMCU, Ms. Vickie and Ms. Jennifer. They raved at how well the students demonstrated the ability to listen and ask “real life” questions. Before they left, the ladies presented both classrooms with a challenge.

The challenge was for each student to write a personal essay on what they had learned about saving money. The recipient of the strongest essay would win free Griffin’s tickets for their entire class!

After submitting their entries, the students were treated to a special guest appearance by GRIFF (the Grand Rapids Griffin’s mascot). Griff couldn’t decide on the top essay because there were so many quality pieces entered in the contest.  So he declared the essays written by Paige Pierson and Samantha VanSinger as winners.

For their hard work, ALL of the students in both classrooms received two free tickets to the Grand Rapids Griffin’s hockey game on Saturday, March 3rd.

The Cedar Springs Future Farmers of America (FFA) was established in 1946, and has consistently invested in the leadership of its members as an integral part of the Agriscience program at the High School. As part of its mission statement the FFA seeks to develop premier leadership in its members.

Many activities also encourage members to become involved in the community.  This year the club has participated in leadership development through several conferences, fund raising activities, and participation in school and community events. One of the premier events this year saw the club hosting a farm day on the Land Laboratory, where all second grade children were escorted to a corn maze, and small animal exhibit on school property, and presented with several gifts. The event also included a hay ride around the school property. Another character building activity has a group of members acting as mentors to elementary students in need of assistance in school. The mentor-members meet weekly after school with their charges to help with their education and to provide and role model.

If you would like to learn more about the Cedar Springs Future Farms of America, please contact Larry Reyburn via email  Larry.Reyburn@csredhawks.org.