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A
SSOCIATED
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EWSPAPERS OF
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ICHIGAN
P
AGE
5
April 5, 2012
C
ANTON
- N
ORTHVILLE
- P
LYMOUTH
Board closes 1 school
Northville gallery will present ‘Titanic’ exhibit
Students entertained, educated by ‘Hip Hop’ science
Members of the Plymouth-Canton Board
of Education decided last week to close and
re-purpose one elementary school but keep
another one open.
The decision to close Fiegel Elementary
School but keep open Gallimore Elementary
came at the end of a year-long facility use
study that recommend-
ed closing both schools
and moving the alter-
nate education students
from Starkweather to
one of them.
The board voted 6-1
to close Fiegel, with
Adrienne Davis casting
the dissenting vote. The
school, on Joy Road just
east of I-275, will house
Starkweather students
next year.
“I don't like repur-
posing or closing schools, but this is a pro-
gram that needs a home,” said board mem-
ber JudyMardigian.
The board voted 5-2 against closing
Gallimore, however. Trustees Mark Horvath
andMikeMaloney cast the two votes in favor
of closing the school.
The district had proposed closing the
schools as a cost-savings measure, according
to School Superintendent Jeremy Hughes. It
would have saved the district about $2 mil-
lion annually.
Mardigian said the alternative education
program was an important one and that
Starkweather wasn't an adequate facility any
longer. For one thing, she said it didn't even
have a lunch room. Fiegel would provide a
muchbetter home for the program, she said.
“It's a very important program,” she said.
“For a lot of kids, it's
their only option.”
“I think this is the
start of making this pro-
gram grow,” added
board member Barry
Simescu.
Board
members
expressed concern that
closing Gallimore-and
finding new schools for
the 400 or so students
that go there-wouldn't
leave much room at the
impacted schools or
allowroomfor newprograms.
Hughes said he would report back to the
board at a later date with recommendations
on the future of Starkweather center, an
aging facility located in Plymouth's Old
Village.
“We don't have a proposal for that at this
time,” he said. “If there was anyone with
interest in the building, we'd be happy to dis-
cuss it.”
The changes will be effective at the start
of the 2012-2013 school year.
One hundred years after the sink-
ing of Titanic, Starring “The
Gallery” will host a photography
exhibit commemorating the doomed
luxury liner.
Through the month of April,
Starring will exhibit “Titanic: A
Century To Remember” by Philip
Dattilo. The show opens with an
artist's reception 6-9 p.m. Friday,
April 6, during the Northville First
Friday Experience. “Titanic: A
Century To Remember” revolves
around present-day photographs
that depict scenes related to R.M.S.
Titanic's inception, construction and
the epilogue of its short life.
Philip Dattilo, of Plymouth, has
worked as a professional photogra-
pher for more than 30 years. His
photographs are on permanent dis-
play at the Holocaust Memorial
Center in Farmington Hills, the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
and the Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History in
Detroit. His work also has appeared
in publications like the Wall Street
Journal, Fortune, Business Week
andU.S. News andWorldReport.
Dattilo became fascinated with
the Titanic when a fourth grade
classroom lesson evolved into a life-
time of interest and research.
Dattilo's photographs reflect his
travels to sites andmonuments asso-
ciated with the ocean liner. The dis-
play also includes historic photo-
graphs of the ship. Dattilo is a long-
time member of the Titanic
Historical Society.
Titanic was the largest and most
luxurious ocean liner at the time of
her sailing in April, 1912. Five days
out of Southampton, England, the
ship hit an iceberg and sunk to the
bottom of the Atlantic, taking 1,523
liveswithher.
“I'mexcited to havePhilipDattilo
again this year, as our First Friday
artist,” said Mary Starring, owner of
Starring “The Gallery.” “This exhibit
is near and dear to Philip and it's
exciting to listen to him talk about
theTitanic and all its history.”
The hip hop that took to the
stage at Central Middle School in
Plymouth last Thursday had
nothing to do with the Easter
bunny. Rather the show had a lot
to do with Sir Isaac Newton's
Second Law, Force equals Mass
times Acceleration, FMA for
which the entertainment troupe
is named.
The dance and entertainment
group sponsored by Honeywell
andNASA entertainedmore than
1,500 Plymouth students from
throughout the district during
three separate shows at the
downtown school, demonstrating
several well known laws of sci-
ence and physics while putting
them into practical applications.
FMA Live is on a 10-week, 20-city
tour of the US and Canada. The
entire program, including the 18-
wheel truck, tour bus and 10 per-
son cast and crew is funded by
Honeywell.
Highlights of the show includ-
ed some extreme wrestling, drag-
ster cars and rocket launchers, a
hover chair and students vaulting
onto a Velcrowall. The group pre-
sented music videos and a rocku-
mentary about the life and work
of Sir Isaac Newton during the
show which included the partici-
pation of students and teachers
alike, and lots of music and what
else but hiphopmoves.
Photos by SeanRhaesa
Big money
Retired teacher
wins Keno prize
PatriciaNovak of Canton Township just
started playing Keno a couple of months
ago, using easy pick to choose her num-
bers.
Every day she checked online at the
downstairs computer to see if she had
won.
On the day her husband, John, heard
her screaming and rushed downstairs, he
was sure she'd somehow injured herself.
Between screams of joy, she managed to
tell him, "It's a good thing."
Novak couldn't believe her luck. "You
hear about other people winning but you
never think it canhappen to you," she said.
Novak's $250,000 win came at just the
right time, she said. Her husband was
recently laid off from his job and she just
retired after 41 years of teaching at a local
Catholic school.
Novak said she plans to use the money
to pay bills and enjoy her retirement.
The winning ticket was sold by Meijer
#68 located at 37201 Warren Road in
Westland.
Over 95 cents of every dollar spent on
Lottery tickets is returned to the state in
the form of contributions to the state
School Aid Fund, prizes to players and
commissions to retailers.
In fiscal year 2011, the contribution to
schools was over $727.3 million. Since its
inception in 1972, the Lottery has con-
tributed over $16 billion to education in
Michigan.
Patricia Novak of Canton just won
$250,000 playing Michigan Lottery Keno.
We don't have
a proposal for
that at this time.
If there was anyone
with interest in
the building,
we'd be happy
to discuss it.
”