NEWS
On Saturday Feb. 27, P-CEP’s Unified Sports team went to the Special Olympics basketball tournament at Western Michigan for their first time. The club was divided up into two teams. Each player was on either the A or B team. Both teams had a combination of special needs students - the athletes - and general education students - the partners.
Check out the April print issue of the Perspective found under the PDF tab to read more about the Unified Sports game.
Unified Sports Goes to Special Olympics
By: Ally Schwinke
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Photos by Ally and Kathy Schwinke
Each team played two games on Saturday. Overall, the club won one game. All players had an equal amount of playing time and almost every player scored points for their team.
For over 40 years, the “Variety Is” talent show has been displaying a medley of P-CEP’s most talented artists and musicians. Taking place at the Gloria Logan Auditorium on Feb. 6, the show was hosted by the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band.
The talent show is completely student-run and always has been. Tradition has it that Plymouth-Canton Marching Band’s drum majors must organize and run the event; this year the drum majors are Jenny Juterbock, Alex Farrel, Jessica Sivic, and Savannah Reiberts.
“It’s cool seeing what the students here do. I would have had no idea some of them had that kind of talent,” said drum major Jenny Juterbock, Salem senior.
The evening started with a performance from the 8th grade Honor Band. Students coming from Plymouth-Canton’s middle schools were given the opportunity to play challenging music, with the help of experienced high school students
One of the mentors was trumpet-player Liam Breen, Canton senior. “It was a great and interesting experience,” said Breen. “It took a little bit of time for them to calm down, but when they settled down we made some great music.”
The musical performances included a variety of soloists, duets, and bands. Also performing was the P-CEP Jazz program. Split into two ensembles, the Miles Davis Jazz Band performed “Tiger of San Pedro” by John LaBarbera, later followed by the John Coltrane Jazz Band, who played “Us” by Thad Jones. Both jazz bands are directed by professional trombone player, Noah Bellamy, who is also the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band’s visual caption head.
“I think this is a great event (‘Variety Is’) as it is run by students and performed by students. We (P-CEP Jazz Band) are honored to be part of it and I know the students are very excited to perform in front of their peers as well as parents,” said Bellamy.
Aside from musical acts, students gave a glimpse of the diversity that makes up P-CEP. Charlie Poat, Plymouth sophomore, danced selections from an Irish dance routine. Jeremiah Brown displayed several Tang Soo Do techniques, a style of martial arts originating in South Korea. Furthermore, APAC made a performance, conducting tricks with traditional Chinese yo-yos.
“It was an exhilarating experience being able to share a unique art form that not many people know,” said Brown.
“APAC recently started performing yo-yo. I think it’s our 5th year. It originated in China and is part of Chinese culture. In the past, they were made of disc-shaped bamboo and hard plastic. The yo-yos we use now are modern styled, which allows us to do more tricks because it stays spinning for longer,” said Justine Ko, Plymouth senior.
As a finale, the Plymouth-Canton Marching Band performed music from their 2015 show, “E.X.O.” As tradition follows, the band entered out from every aisle way, staircase, and entrance onto the stage, dancing to a drum cadence. Much preparation took place by the students to prepare for the big night.
Auditions took place Jan. 8, where the drum majors watched several acts to decide the lineup of the show. After the acts were decided, students were given several weeks to prepare for their performances. A dress rehearsal was conducted after school on Feb. 6.
Drum majors were in charge of scheduling and hosting auditions, organizing rehearsals, and gathering a staff for the event. All of the staff members were students.
“I had a great time working behind the scenes. It was fun to watch the show from a different perspective and it was a great experience to be a part of,” said Christina Christenson, Canton senior.
Originating in 1968, the talent show has been a running tradition. The bands started the event as a fundraiser for their first appearance at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, an international band and orchestra convention.
“Since the beginning, 'Variety Is...' has been student-run and full of wild cards. Like the P-CEP Perspective, the Humanities and Mod Lit classes, and so many other Park programs that originated in the '60s and '70s, students were put in charge of something big,” said Salem Humanities teacher, Shelley Bates.
Bates remembers her times as show director in 1989: “The title was perfect, since we had rock bands, talented soloists, ridiculous comedy sketches, dancers, and oddball acts. ‘Variety Is’ was the last time we had a chance to perform our show each year, so it was emotional. It is hard to believe next year will be the 50th annual ‘Variety Is’ show!”
'Variety Is' Brings Together Artists and Musicians
By: Natasha Pietruschka
Art Director
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
This year, the African-American Student Association (AASA) is going on a tour of several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to encourage black students here at The Park to consider furthering their education at an HBCU. The schools they will be visiting include Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Alabama State University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, and Tuskegee University.
Canton junior, Alexandria Hayes, a member of the AASA who plans on attending this year’s trip says, “I think the tour is important because it shows what we can accomplish as a whole. It’s something for us and I think that’s special. I’m really excited.”
HBCU’s bring about many opportunities for black students. HBCU’s started before the civil rights era and have been an underdog ever since. These schools only represent 3% of America’s higher education institutions, but they graduate a quarter of black students that receive undergraduate degrees.
Schools like Howard University, Spelman College, Hampton University and Morehouse College are some of the best, most competitive HBCU’s that offer challenging courses and the complete college experience, all of which have a black student graduation rate of 55% or higher in six years or under.
Plymouth junior Arion Wheeler, another member of the AASA says, “This trip is important, it is a great opportunity to explore my options for college. To see what an HBCU has to offer and what I can learn. I’m most excited to go to Spleman and see all the courses they have. I’ve also heard a lot of great things about Fisk so I’m excited to go there. My dreams are set on other schools but you never know; something may change. If I were to go to an HBCU I would look into Howard.”
HBCU’s give their students a chance to be mentored by people with the same cultural background as them, in a supportive and encouraging environment and surrounded by their peers; other black students who understand their day-to-day struggles. It gives them a chance to explore their identity and learn more about who they are and where they come from, which is something some students may not have a chance to do if they attend a predominately white institute.
This trip is a great opportunity for our students to explore their options and find out where they should be and where they will be able to grow the most.
President of the AASA and Canton senior Hunter Thornhill also plans to attend this year’s trip. Thornhill says, “It is important for kids to attend this trip so that they can have an idea of what college is like, and to be able to envision themselves performing at a higher education level”.
Some HBCU’s are also a part of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), an organization that helps black students by giving out over 10,000 scholarships. They also help HBCU’s by giving them financial support so they can keep their curriculum strong and their tuition low. The UNCF and other programs like these are the reason that HBCU’s can continue to grow and reach out to more students.
African-American Student Association Going to Tour HBCUs
By: Lena Bobo
Features Editor
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Photo by Kristen Rodwell
Marching Band and Colorgaurd come back onstage for the finale during the Variety is show.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Winter Weather Rough on
Walk Between Schools
By: Chris Robbins
Sports Editor
Students at P-CEP have a unique experience being able to walk on the pathways between schools. Sometimes, this experience can turn into a challenge.
Out of 127 students surveyed, 49 said that they have fallen on the path this school year. This might be due to the slippery conditions caused by slush, light snow and ice.
Michael Peterson, the director of operations for the district, said, “The single biggest factor in clearing the snow is when it comes (time of day). If the snow is ongoing it is very difficult to insure a completely bare surface.” He also added, “The best defense against a slip and fall is quality footwear that is designed for winter walking. I understand that this might not be the fashion choice of students but the reality is it is winter and students need to walk between schools for their class schedules.”
Jeff Heard, a member of the maintenance staff at the Park, said, “All's we clear here is about ten feet outside the doors of the school. It took two of us about 6.5 hours (on Feb. 25, a snow day) to clear our areas and salt it.”
One way to help the maintenance staff clean areas that need it is to report it to the offices. Diane Robertson, Plymouth secretary, said that if you report slippery spots to the general offices, they can let maintenance know where problem spots are along the path.
Monday, March 21, 2016
ChemoCare Engages Students to Help Fight Cancer
By: Emmanuel Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Students at P-CEP have a unique experience being able to walk on the pathways between schools. Sometimes, this experience can turn into a challenge.
Out of 127 students surveyed, 49 said that they have fallen on the path this school year. This might be due to the slippery conditions caused by slush, light snow and ice.
Michael Peterson, the director of operations for the district, said, “The single biggest factor in clearing the snow is when it comes (time of day). If the snow is ongoing it is very difficult to insure a completely bare surface.” He also added, “The best defense against a slip and fall is quality footwear that is designed for winter walking. I understand that this might not be the fashion choice of students but the reality is it is winter and students need to walk between schools for their class schedules.”
Jeff Heard, a member of the maintenance staff at the Park, said, “All's we clear here is about ten feet outside the doors of the school. It took two of us about 6.5 hours (on Feb. 25, a snow day) to clear our areas and salt it.”
One way to help the maintenance staff clean areas that need it is to report it to the offices. Diane Robertson, Plymouth secretary, said that if you report slippery spots to the general offices, they can let maintenance know where problem spots are along the path.
Five National Honor Society members delivered over 150 blankets and 200 sewn chemotherapy covers to Beaumont Hospital as part of their service project, ChemoCare. ChemoCare announced that the group has delivered two vans full of crafted goods to the child life center at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, and they plan to visit some of the inpatient rooms at Beaumont as well.
A group of five seniors from the Park chose to do their NHS Independent Service Project (ISP) on childhood cancer. Their main goal is to bridge the gap between sick and healthy kids in the community.
Canton senior Elizabeth Yager said, “We believe there to be an ignorance in today’s youth regarding this matter; they simply do not know that there are kids their age who are sick.”
“I know this from experience,” said Salem senior Madeline Leyden. “In second grade, I vividly recall seeing a child with no hair wearing a [medical] dress and asking my mom, quite loudly ‘Why is that boy wearing a dress?’ This lack of information is not okay.”
ChemoCare is all about helping children understand what cancer is. With the help of several local educators, including Eric Stamper, a first grade teacher at Smith Elementary, they developed a kid friendly presentation on the matter.
“Of course we touched on the basics of what cancer is, what causes it and how it is treated,” said Kayla Ross, Salem senior and a member of Chemocare “but we placed a special importance on how these kids could get involved.”
The service part of ChemoCare is to create fleece blankets, chemo infusion covers, and pillow cases for the board that patients’ arms rest on. With the 5th graders’ active participation, chemo bag covers and pillowcases were decorated.
“No kid wants to see the poison that is going into their body” said Leyden at a presentation about her non-profit to members of Leadership Canton.
ChemoCare has partnered with the local non-profit Fleece and Thank You and its founder, Nicholas Kristock, to make an even bigger impact. Kristock’s charity serves to deliver fleece blankets to all of the hospitals in Michigan.
Fleece and Thank You donated their technology to ChemoCare, allowing every chemo bag cover and blanket made to have a personalized video message from the creator attached.
“Showing the patient that others care and the look they get when they get that message is the best part,” said Leyden.
One of the best things about Fleece and Thank You technology is that if the recipient is feeling well enough, they have the chance to send a video back.
After hearing about this project, The Plymouth Rotary Foundation, Plymouth AM Rotary, Plymouth Colonial Kiwanis and others within the community raised donations that brought ChemoCare to life.
You can donate to ChemoCare by emailing madelinekleyden@gmail.com.