They are popping up like wildflowers! These colorful jars to support the Cedar Springs Library are popping up at local businesses everywhere. Look for these matching fundraiser jars and throw in your loose change (we take paper money, too) to help the library get closer to the $50,000 matching grant towards a new building.

Thanks to the CTA staff and students for their part in decorating the containers—they are truly works of art! Also, a big thanks to the Cedar Springs Post and the many others who have put in their time and effort to support our local library.

CTA’s boys varsity basketball team traveled up north to take on two Traverse City teams.

Friday night, CTA tipped-off against St. Mary’s of Lake Leelanau. The Eagles of St. Mary’s bested the Chargers with a final score of 42-24. 14 of the Charger’s 24 points came from Senior guard, Cole Chilcote. Early in the 3rd quarter, Chilcote hit a 14-14 game tying 3-point basket. However, St. Mary’s found a way to convert turnovers into baskets, and make it difficult for the Chargers to score for the remainder of the game. Guards, Travis Johnson and Austin Armstrong each added 4 points.
The good news was the Chargers did not have to hang their heads long over Friday night’s loss. They played the Bulldogs of Traverse City Homeschool early Saturday. The first half looked shaky for Creative Tech, as the Bulldogs used their 6’3” center to have their way around the basket on both ends of the court. The Chargers made a few adjustments on the defensive end, and held the center to just a few touches for the remainder of the game. The Chargers were also more determined to attack the basket and get their forwards involved. Creative Tech took the momentum of a buzzer-beater 3-point shot from the hand of junior Austin Armstrong into halftime to trail the Bulldogs by just 2 points. However, the biggest points may have come from senior Zach White from the charity line. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, White’s made free-throws put the Chargers up by 4 points, making it a two-possession game. The Bulldog’s settled for a desperate 3 point attempt as time ticked away. The shot came up short bouncing out of bounds, possession to the Chargers. The Chargers were able to play keep away for the remaining 10 seconds and win with a final score of 26-22.
Creative Tech improves to 5-4 as they reach the halfway point in the season. Tuesday, they take on Waypoint, of Muskegon, and end the week with a trip to Grattan Academy.

CTA Grades K-6

Daddy/Daughter Dance

February 9, 2011
CTA Cafeteria

$10.00 per family
Refreshments, Desserts, Photo Included

Spring Parent/Superintendent Town Hall Meeting

(originally scheduled for April 23)

Has been rescheduled to
Thursday, April 19, 2012

This is also Family Night at CTA!

Hope to see you all there!

Creative Technologies Academy
Cedar Springs, MI  49319

Open Enrollment Period
for the 2012-13 School Year

January 15 – February 15, 2012

January     27     Boys and Girls Bball @ Grattan Academy, Greenville, MI 6:00PM & 8:00PM
31     Boys and Girls Bball @ Fremont Home School, Fremont Christian Middle School 6:00Pm & 8:00PM

February    3    Boys and Girls Bball @ Wellspring Prep, Grand Rapids, MI 4:30 PM and 6:15 PM
7    Boys and Girls Bball @ WMAES, Grand Rapids, MI 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM
9    Daddy/Daughter Dance (K-6th Grade) CTA Cafeteria 7:00 – 8:30 PM
10    Boys and Girls Bball @ Lakeshore Christian, Grand Haven, MI 6:00 PM and 7:30 PM
13    Boys and Girls Bball @ Grand Rapids Prep, Grand Rapids, MI 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM
17    Boys and Girls Bball @ Waypoint Academy, Muskegon, MI 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM
22    Boys and Girls Bball Tournament @ WMAES, Grand Rapids, MI 5:30 PM and 7:00 PM
22-24    No School for Students and Staff – Mid-Winter Break
27    No School for Students Teacher PD Day 9 AM – 3:30 PM
28    Boys and Girls Bball Tournament @ WMAES, Grand Rapids, MI TBA

Dr. Elizabeth Stolle

Ms. Jenny Yonkman

Dr. Elizabeth Petroelje Stolle, a reading professor in the College of Education at Grand Valley State University, is collaborating with Ms. Jenny Yonkman’s sixth grade students at Creative Technologies Academy and Ms. Lisa Campbell’s students of Cross Creek Charter Academy on an exciting opportunity. Ms. Yonkman, Ms. Campbell, and Dr. Stolle have been working on this collaborative project for three years now, connecting adolescent readers around texts through online discussions. The project will continue in January and February of 2012 as the students read and discuss the novel, Phantom Tollbooth.
It was important to the three educators that they establish a project that is beneficial to all involved. In that way, Ms. Yonkman, Ms. Campbell, and Dr. Stolle have established clear goals for the students within the project and have collaborated extensively to insure that their goals will be met. The hope is that the sixth grade students will: (1) experience honest talk about texts, that is, that students can share their ideas and opinions about the novel; (2) understand the various aspects of communication, that is, students come to experience how audience and purpose play important roles in the ways by which we write and communicate; and (3) make a true connection to their reading and writing as they engage in an authentic reading and writing experience.
With these established goals, the sixth graders will be placed into groups and asked to communicate online for four weeks discussing the chosen novel. In the discussions, all individuals will be responsible for framing discussion questions, sharing insights and ideas, and exploring the text in terms of language use, theme, etc. During this time, the sixth grade students will access an educational website, nicenet.org, in order to post responses, questions, and reactions to the text. Nicenet.org is a secure site where only our students will have access to the discussions by using usernames and passwords. Therefore, each student will be issued a username and password to this project’s discussion board only. With that, all posts will be monitored by Ms. Yonkman, Ms. Campbell, and Dr. Stolle. Usernames and passwords will be made available to the parents of students, as well so they can see the exciting discussions unfold. Data will be collected through both the online discussions and classroom observations.
Participation in this study is voluntary and will not influence student grades or their standing at school.  If a student chooses not to participate or to withdraw from the study at any time, there will be no penalty. All collected data will be coded and name and identity will be removed. The results of the research study may be published, but student names will not be used to protect confidentiality. There are no direct benefits from participating in this study other than the benefits of adding to the knowledge base regarding online discussions and 21st century literacy skills.
All data collected through the online discussions will only be accessible to the researcher with a password.  All online discussion interactions and threads will be saved to an external harddrive at the end of the four weeks. Dr. Stolle will code all names on the online discussion transcripts and the written observations.  After three years all data will be deleted, keeping student confidentiality.
CTA is pleased to work with Dr. Stolle once more in research to improve middle school language arts instruction and enhance student reading experiences.  Plans are underway to expand collaboration with Dr. Stolle to the high school language arts in the near future.

Tuesday’s win over West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science (WMAES) evened the Chargers record on the season to 2-2.
The boy’s varsity team from Creative Technologies Academy executed a near-perfect defensive game as they held a competitive WMEAS team scoreless in the first, third, and fourth quarters. After jumping out to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter, the Chargers were challenged by WMAES as they played even with the Chargers, matching score for score to end the first half with a 27-10 Charger lead. Unfortunately for WMEAS, their scoring run would end there, as CTA charged on to a 52-10 victory.
A big reason for the successful night was the 33 combined offensive and defensive rebounds, as well as getting a team total of 18 steals.  Junior, Austin Armstrong lead statistically for the Chargers with 6 steals, 6 rebounds, and 13 points.  It was a great performance from the junior, but the Chargers victory was a team effort. Twelve of the fourteen Chargers scored at least two points to lead to balanced scoring.
The CTA boys hope to improve their record as they head to Fremont to face the Fremont Home School Mustangs for one last game before taking a break for the holidays. For a complete CTA Charger’s schedule, please visit the athletics page at www.ctaschool.com.

Sophomore captain Alicia Beck scores two on a layup following a steal.

Junior captain Grace VanEnk shows perfect form in boxing out a WMAES player.

The Lady Chargers’ season is off to a great 3-0 start this year following their most recent win over West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science on Tuesday by a score of 27-18.  Coach Mae Hill writes, “The team appreciates the support of our teammates, coaches, parents, teachers and fellow students.  Team captains, Grace VanEnk and Alicia Beck, have elevated their level of play this year and have done a great job of instilling team values within the organization.  We look forward to making the most of our time together, on and off the court.”

December    16    Last Day before Winter Break
19-January 02    No School for Students and Staff – Winter Break

January     03    Classes Resume
06     Boys and Girls Bball @ Lakeshore Christian, Grand Haven, MI 6:00PM & 7:30PM
10     Boys and Girls Bball @ Wellspring Academy, Grand Rapids, MI 4:30PM &  6:00PM

13     Boys and Girls Bball @ Grand Rapids Prep Academy, Grand Rapids, MI 5:30PM & 7:00PM
14     CTA Dance (8th-12th) hosted by Senior Class, Kent City TBD TBA
17    Boys Bball @ Brockway Christian Brockway Christian School, 5:30PM
19    Parent Teacher Conferences (High School Only – by appointment)
20     Boys Bball @St. Mary’s School , Sutton’s Bay, MI 7:30PM
21     Boys Bball @ Traverse City Home School, Traverse City, MI TBA
24     Boys and Girls Bball @ Waypoint Academy, Muskegon, MI 5:30PM & 7:30PM
27     Boys and Girls Bball @ Grattan Academy, Greenville, MI 6:00PM & 8:00PM
31     Boys and Girls Bball @ Fremont Home School, Fremont Christian Middle School 6:00Pm & 8:00PM