Left to right (rear) Dan George, CTA Superintendent/School Leader; Jenifer Adams, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation; Kyle Bohl, CTA Director of Student Services; Jennifer August, CTA Parent Association President. (front) Lizzie August, Jennifer August’s daughter and former patient at HDVCH.

CTA joined the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation for their first ever Make Change Campaign for three weeks during the month of May AND the Chargers raised $1,077.46 in that short time span.  “Our K-5 elementary children really caught the spirit of this campaign,” said Dan George, Superintendent/School Leader at Creative Technologies Academy.  “Our elementary raised about 80% of our total with a lot of pennies!”

“No doubt, a great deal of the enthusiasm for this project is the knowledge that one of our own has benefited from the skills, services, and compassion of Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital,” continued Mr. George.  Lizzie August, a CTA kindergarten student and daughter of CTA Parent Association President, Jennifer August, received long term care last summer and into the school year at the hospital.  “This project fits in well with our service learning program and our character education program.  Our kids are learning the value of giving back.”

As the winning school in the campaign, CTA will be featured in the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital Foundation’s For Our Kids newsletter and 4th grade teacher, Amy Burton, who headed up the campaign in the elementary school, will be interviewed by Tommy and Brook on STAR 105.7!

On May 4, 2010 five students from Creative Technologies Academy used the high school awards ceremony as their platform to tell the students and parents about their painting. The painting is on a 4’ X 5’ canvas and it was a cooperative artistic endeavor by five students:  Erin Willis, Amber Bowen, Tyler Felty, Grace Van Enk, and Maria De la Fuente Villaverde.

“The painting represents the students’ view of life,” stated Gabriella Olsen, the CTA art teacher.

As shown in the picture, the students took the idea of a tree and showed how its life was affected by the seasons of the year. On five branches were words written to express what is needed to make it through life—Laugh, Family, Friends, Love, and Learn—and beneath the tree are the words “Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.”

“It reminds us all of what it takes to enjoy life to the fullest,” said Amber Bowen, a senior at CTA.

Whether the students are showing their accomplishments through their studies, on the court, or through the fine arts, CTA is always in celebratory mode as we are proud of our students’ gifts and talents. Keep it up Chargers!

CTA held its Prom on May 6, 2010 at the Boulder Creek Golf Club with 87 students attending.  Kote Obetts and Carrie Rodgers, both seniors, were elected King and Queen by their peers.  An “After Party” was held at Northfield Lanes for two hours of Rock-N-Bowling.

I slipped into the second grade classroom a few weeks ago to observe our high school economics students teaching economics principles to the 2nd graders at their various centers.    The room was crackling with energy.  The econ students gave animated, energetic presentations and the 2nd graders jumped right in – no attention problems here!  I was amazed to see that even some of the reluctant students from both age groups came out of their shells to participate. It was a wonderful learning experience for both “teachers” and pupils!
Robbie Coxon, Director of Academics

My second grade students are expected in social studies to learn and understand the basics of economics. So, I arrived at the following question: How can I effectively teach my second graders to grasp such advanced economic concepts as opportunity cost; human, natural, and capital resources; and specialization, in an authentic and meaningful way so that they are able to connect and thus, understand them? I decided to employ the help of Mr. Mike Vanden Berg, the high school economics teacher. We decided that the best way to benefit both groups of students was to incorporate multi-age cooperative learning opportunities involving the grouping of his students with my own. The high school students developed level-appropriate lesson plans complete with hands-on activities that would best suit the needs of my students. The lessons and activities involved my second graders moving from one group to the next, all the while learning from and interacting with the high school students.  All students from both levels were actively engaged and involved in the learning process. As a teacher, it was so wonderful to observe students learning from each other! This experience has exceeded my expectations, and I hope to incorporate more multi-age cooperative learning opportunities in the future!
Carrie Paddock, 2nd grade teacher

When Mrs. Carrie Paddock asked me if my 11th grade Economics class could help her 2nd graders learn and understand the economic concepts of opportunity cost, factors of production, and basics about running a business, my first thought was, “I don’t have the time to take a few days to do this.”  However, once I thought about it, the benefits far outweighed the three days this activity took my class.
I placed my Econ class into groups, each charged with the task of teaching one or two of the 2nd grade standards.  Beyond that, I instructed each group to come up with an activity or a creative way to teach the concepts on a 2nd grade level.  One group brought in different types of candy to teach about opportunity cost.  Another group worked with the students to create paper pizzas to teach about different factors of production.  A third group worked with students to create Valentine cards, teaching about different types of capital.
The 2nd graders worked well, learned much, and enjoyed the company of the older students.  The high school students thoroughly learned the material that they taught, and were forced to truly understand the concepts in order to relate the information to a second grade level.  The whole experience was wonderful for my high school students, who not only gained a deeper understanding of economic concepts we had learned in class, but also grasped the responsibility of being  role models to our next generations here at CTA.  This type of activity has great academic and social benefits for both sides involved, and is something that I plan to implement with greater frequency in years to come.
Mike Vanden Berg, Social Studies

As a part of Smart Character Choices, CTA high school students are divided up into six groups (changing each trimester) with a high school teacher serving as an adviser.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, these groups meet during the Advisory period (29 minutes.)  During this time the students participate in team building activities and discussion groups.  Out of these discussions have come the High School Constitution and the CTA Way  documents that lay out what students want our school to be like.  Counselor, Cheryl Dille & high school teacher, Mike VandenBerg work with the Student Leadership Team – a select group of 13 students who have had intensive training – to choose activities and topics for discussion groups.  The Student Leadership Team also meets a few times per month with each elementary and middle school class to lead them in character/team building activities.
These class meeting groups were started during the third trimester of last year.  Since their implementation, we have seen a significant difference in the climate and tone of the high school.  Jon Irwin, one of the Smart Character Choices facilitators, noted a distinct change in the way students responded to his presence in the hallway after these meetings began.  Teachers and administrators and the students themselves can all attest that Smart Character Choices is making a difference!  This is our last year to participate in the federal grant program; our focus this year is on sustainability!
Don’t forget to check out the CTA web page at http://www.ctaschool.com and our Infinite Campus link where parents can track homework assignments, grades, and much more!

January 21:    Parent / Teacher conferences
January 22:    No School – Teacher Prof. Development
February 17-19:    Mid-Winter Break
March 3:    End of 2nd Trimester
March 5:    No School – Teacher Prof. Development
March 9-11:    MME testing

March 19:    No school for students or staff

1.Here Ben Colburn and Ashton Willis are caught raking leaves for a neighbor of the school.

From left to right, Mr. Verwey, Ashton Willis, Kaitlyn Cooper, CJ Bouck, Cody Mogdis, and Ben Colburn take a break in the leaves they just raked.

The NHS of CTA, with rakes in hand, walked around the city of Cedar Springs on November 21, 2009, looking for some leaves to rake and, thereby lend a helping hand.  “The goal was to find some leaves to rake and spread some early holiday cheer by doing something for someone else without being asked, “said student, Kaitlyn Cooper.

Kaitlyn came up with the idea after being taught that NHS is all about finding out where one can make a difference in the environment around them.  Mr. Verwey, a science teacher at CTA and newly elected NHS advisor, mentioned that “it was really rewarding to be there with the students who went out looking for someone to help.”

The National Honor Society values fit in well with the philosophy of the Academy which seeks to encourage students to make positive choices and serve their communities.

On Tuesday, December 8, the Creative Technologies Academy Band students performed their holiday concert at CTA’s auditorium in Cedar Springs. Band students in grades 5-12 participated in the performance, playing music ranging from Renaissances Dances to Christmas carols from around the world. The high school band students also performed duets that they had arranged themselves, based on a musical game by Mozart. Band students went caroling around the school performing for the entire student body and staff on Thursday and Friday before Christmas break.

The students in grades K-4 performed holiday plays last Tuesday for students, staff, families, and friends.  Students in grades K-2 performed, “How the Penguins Saved Christmas,” and the students in the third and fourth grades performed, “Elfis and the Sleigh Riders.”  The students did a wonderful job remembering their lines, and all of the different songs.
Fourth grade student, Gabe Kelly, did a wonderful job as Elfis.

October 13-29: MEAP testing

October 21: Parent/Teacher Conferences:  3:15 – 5 pm

October 22: Parent/Teacher  Conferences:  3:15 – 7 pm

October 23: No School for Students or Staff

November 24: End of first trimester

November 25-27: Thanksgiving break