NEWSPAPERS Special Edition
Bloomfield Hills High School alumnus completes Great World Race
BY MARY GENSON mgenson@candgnews.com
BLOOMFIELD HILLS — In just seven days, Bloomfield Hills High School alumnus Merrick Chernett ran seven marathons in seven continents. At the age of 18, Chernett is the youngest person to complete the Great World Race.
What is the Great World Race?
The Great World Race provides the challenge of running seven marathons in seven days on seven continents.
The series of races, held Nov. 14-20, kicked off in Wolf’s Fang, Antarctica. He then traveled to Cape Town in Africa, Perth in Australia, Istanbul in Asia, Istanbul in Europe, Cartagena in South America and Miami in North America to compete in the remainder of the races.
The race is organized by Ice Cap Adventures Ltd. and partners with experts from the race venues in each continent.
Wilkinson students raise endangered fish, learn conservation
BY ANDY KOZLOWSKI akozlowski@candgnews.com
This year, there were 60 runners from all over the world including those from Canada, Ireland, Australia and Italy.
The commitment
To complete a feat such as the Great World Race, rigorous training is necessary. Chernett was running 100 miles a week to prepare, reaching the point of running 20 miles a day for six consecutive days.
In order to travel from continent to continent, the racers all rode together on the Rolling Stones’ old tour plane. Racers ate meals on the plane in between races, and for Chernett, he spent some of his time in between races on schoolwork.
Chernett is now a student at the University of Michigan. He is a freshman studying business at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
While some of his work was excused during the two weeks he was away from school for the race, not every professor gave
See RACE on page 4A
MADISON HEIGHTS — The lake sturgeon is among the oldest and largest native species of fish in the Great Lakes — living up to 150 years, reaching lengths of more than 6 feet, and weighing more than 200 pounds when fully grown. They’re also nearly extinct, leading to efforts to raise them in captivity so they can once again thrive in Michigan’s waters.
A juvenile specimen is currently being raised in the classroom of Laura Shultz, a teacher at Wilkinson Middle School in the Madison District Public Schools.
“The sturgeon has been around since the time of the dinosaurs.
See STURGEON on page 6A
Laura Shultz, a teacher at Wilkinson Middle School, shows off “Spike,” the lake sturgeon she and her students are raising for release into the wild. The effort is part of a program through the state that aims to restore the endangered species.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Merrick Chernett is the youngest person to compete in the Great World Race.
Photo provided by Merrick Chernett
SECOND FRONT PAGE
C.O.P.S Care program encourages independence within senior community
BY TAYLOR CHRISTENSEN tchristensen@candgnews.com
CLAWSON — Clawson police officer Aundreana Beydoun was taught growing up to always respect the elderly.
When she noticed an influx of welfare-check calls for seniors called into the Clawson Police Department, she wanted to create a program that would provide more efficient help to the senior community.
Last spring, Beydoun began creating the Clawson Officers Protecting Seniors Care program to help encourage the independence and safety of seniors living in their homes. The program seeks to accomplish this through check-ins, resources and social opportunities.
“We (Clawson) have a high population of elderly people. People come here and they stay here,” Beydoun said. “While I was responding to calls, I noticed a lot of them were for the elderly or vulnerable adults that had financial hardships, physical disabilities or different medical conditions and not having any family in the area.”
Beydoun said that she conducted research on her own as well as through the Clawson Senior Center to launch the program and provide all the necessary services that seniors potentially need to lead an independent life.
Lisa Ball, Clawson’s assistant director of recreation and senior services, said that she is very pleased with the creation of this program. She often gets calls from wor-
ried family members or friends looking for a program like C.O.P.S Care.
“This type of program is really vital to do these check-ins with older adults to just to make sure that they’re OK when it comes to home safety and to ensure, you know, just to support their mental well-being and socialization,” Ball said.
C.O.P.S Care is a voluntary check-in and referral program. Seniors who wish to be enrolled or people who know of a senior to refer must fill out an application and send it to the Clawson Police Department.
Beydoun is in charge of the program, so when the applications are sent in, she will review them herself and then reach out and set up a time to meet with the senior to go over a list of survey questions and gather more information.
The survey includes questions regarding home security, medical conditions, medications, pets, emergency contacts and more that can be beneficial to the officers who respond to the location.
“Everything with our program is voluntary, so they’re advised of that upfront, but a lot of the information is very beneficial to us,” Beydoun said. “So, if we do respond to their address for a medical emergency or some kind of crisis or anything like that, we have that information in a secured database that officers can pull up, and we can more effectively help them when the time matters.”
The seniors can choose to have weekly calls over
Community names new ice resurfacer after city employee
BY MARY GENSON mgenson@candgnews.com
BIRMINGHAM — When Connie Folk was a teenager, she spent much of her time at the Birmingham Ice Arena as a competitive figure skater. At the time, little did she know that she would one day have an ice resurfacer named after her.
Since her days as a figure skater, Folk has worked at the Birmingham Ice Arena for over 34 years. She is currently the ice arena and facilities superintendent, and her responsibilities include supervising three ice resurfacer drivers.
The Birmingham Ice Arena recently received its new, custombuilt ice resurfacer. When an ice resurfacer is ordered, it takes one to two years to be finished, according to Folk.
The new ice resurfacer uses a lithium battery. This is a more sustainable approach than the propane-powered ice resurfacer the arena previously used. The arena is keeping the old ice resurfacer for backup.
When the time came to pick a name for the new ice resurfacer, the city asked the community for input. During the voting portion of the process, “Connie” received twice as many votes as the second-place name. It was clear that the community wanted to honor Folk for all her hard work by naming an ice resurfacer after her.
When Parks and Recreation Manager Carrie Laird began working for the city 23 years ago, she met Folk on her first day, and the two have been working together ever since. Laird has been Folk’s supervisor since 2010.
“I can say that she is probably the most dedicated employee that I have ever met,” Laird said.
Clawson police officer Aundreana Beydoun speaks to seniors at the Clawson Senior Center, 509 Fisher Court, about the C.O.P.S Care program that she created.
Photo providedby Lisa Ball
The community recently voted to name the Birmingham Ice Arena’s new ice resurfacer after Ice Arena and Facilities Superintendent Connie Folk.
Photo provided by the city of Birmingham
Race
from page 1A
him the time off. After the Istanbul, Asia, marathon and before the South America marathon, he was up all night finishing an assignment from a professor who required him to do classwork while he was away.
Throughout the Great World Race, runners endured extreme temperatures and weather conditions as they ran around the world. All in one week, Chernett experienced frostbite on his lips from running in Antarctica, stress fractures in his feet and heatstroke.
Chernett said he was continuously inspired by his fellow runners in the race, who came from all over the world. He said he looked up to the dedication of Greg Gerardy, a 53-year-old battling cancer and asthma, and Sean Swarner, a two-time cancer survivor and the first cancer survivor to summit Mount Everest.
“The coolest thing I saw was, honestly, just meeting some of the other people in the race and hearing their stories and what they’ve been through,” Chernett said.
The experience
Throughout the seven races, Chernett’s times naturally varied. His fastest time was in Istanbul in Europe, where he ran the marathon in 4 hours, 4 minutes. However, that doesn’t mean the race was easy.
Various factors led to the race being delayed by a couple hours. During the race, it was cold and pouring rain. Chernett said it was his fourth race, and he didn’t feel his best, but he found the will within himself to embrace the conditions and power through them.
“It was cold, it was wet, but I was smiling and I loved every moment of it. It re-
ally pushed me forward to go even harder,” Chernett said.
The most challenging race for Chernett was the sixth race, in South America. It was 90 degrees outside with high humidity and zero shade. He said the extreme heat created worse running conditions than the extreme cold he experienced in Antarctica.
Chernett said that even though it was the race he was the freshest for, the Antarctica race took a lot of energy out of him. In addition to the extreme cold temperatures, the sun in Antarctica is very strong, and runners had to run through snow, which Chernett compared to running in sand.
Surprisingly, he said everyone was sweating during the Antarctica race when the sun was hitting them. They were in so much gear that even a temperature as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit felt hot. However, the gear was much needed in the areas where they were not in direct sunlight.
A BHHS alumnus
Chernett was in the graduating class of 2024 at Bloomfield Hills High School. While he was in high school, he was on the tennis team and was involved with student leadership.
Instructional coach and English teacher Krista Laliberte taught him throughout his entire high school experience in student leadership and Advanced Placement English Language and Composition.
Laliberte remembers him to be always very positive and dedicated in everything that he did. She recalls a time in class when Chernett was reading a David Goggins memoir that he seemed to show a lot of interest in.
“I hope that Merrick can be the person that comes back and tells his story so kids go on and do amazing, great things, just like the people that inspired him,” Laliberte said.
One of the stops in the Great World Race is Antarctica, where Merrick Chernett endured frostbite on his lip.
Photo provided by Merrick Chernett
Ferndale middle school robotics team wins state championship
BY MIKE KOURY mkoury@candgnews.com
FERNDALE — Ferndale Middle School’s robotics team was able to take home a state championship earlier this month and will now compete in the world championship next year.
The school’s team, Giggle Pickles, competed in the Michigan FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship-Southeast at Macomb Community College in Warren Dec. 7-8, where it won a state championship — named the “Winning Alliance” — at the event. The other team that won the title as part of the alliance was S.W.A.R.M. from Saline Middle School.
Nick Kokotovich, the Giggle Pickles’ fourth year coach, praised the team and its efforts this year, including not losing any rounds at the state championship.
“They were really, really dedicated, and we learned things and used things that we’ve never used before,” he said of this year’s team. “Different programming methods that we’ve never done before. That’s what really allowed us to be at good footing as soon as the real season started and have a robot that was capable of actually winning the championship.”
A robotics team is tasked to build a robot over the course of several weeks in the lead-up to competition and use it to accomplish a list of set tasks.
Giggle Pickles competed in a field of 72 teams over the course of two days. Parker Radowiec, 12, has been a member of the team for
See ROBOTICS on page 9A
Ferndale Middle School’s robotics team, Giggle Pickles, won a state championship at the Michigan FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship-Southeast competition in Warren Dec. 7-8. Giggle Pickles will travel to Houston for the robotics world championship in April.
Photos provided by Ferndale Public Schools
Sturgeon
It pretty much is a dinosaur,” Shultz said. “And my students can see it up close and personal.”
Shultz has partnered with a nonprofit called St. Clair Detroit River Sturgeon for Tomorrow, which aims to protect the species within the Huron-Erie Corridor.
The nonprofit, in turn, administers a program called “Sturgeon in the Classroom” through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which supplies the fish and a permit to handle them.
Shultz received hers earlier in the fall. She feeds it, cleans its tank, and measures its growth on a regular basis. Sometimes she is helped by her students. As part of the arrangement, she also keeps the DNR updated with coordinates of the fish’s location.
The fish is currently about 7 months old — still too young to know its gender. A schoolwide survey led to it being named “Spike,” although Shultz quietly prefers the name “Bubbles.”
“Sturgeon are weird-looking fish, so my students were like, ‘Ew, what is that thing?’ And I said, ‘Hey, don’t talk about my baby like that!’ They felt bad when I teased them,” Shultz said. “But it’s really cute how they’ve come around. Now they ask to see the fish and ask how it’s doing.”
In the spring, Spike will be ready for release into the wild on a field trip to Belle Isle. It will be tagged with a chip that will help identify it if it’s recaptured.
The waters of Michigan were once teeming with lake sturgeon, which contrary
While the fish is small now, a fully grown lake sturgeon can exceed 6 feet in length and weigh more than 200 pounds, and some have been known to live up to 150 years. The fish, once common in the Great Lakes, is all but extinct due to overfishing and habitat degradation.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
to its name also appear in rivers. Prior to the 1800s, they were so common that they were a nuisance to fishermen, causing damage to fishing nets. But then they became valued for their flesh, eggs and organs, leading to overharvesting that decimated stocks by the early 1900s.
Their numbers continue to dwindle due to habitat degradation caused by logging and other forms of industry. Dam construc-
tion hindered access to spawning sites, putting the sturgeon on the path to extinction. But in recent decades, rehabilitation has become a priority, and efforts have been made to rebuild the sturgeon population.
Shultz first learned of the concept through a similar effort aimed at the arctic grayling — another species native to Michigan that has disappeared from the Great Lakes.
When her son was in elementary school several years ago, he raised money for an effort to reintroduce arctic graylings to Michigan. Through this, Shultz formed connections that fast tracked the approval of her application for the sturgeon program.
Now, her class at Wilkinson is one of a dozen in Southeast Michigan to be raising a specimen. Shultz has made presentations about it for each of the science classes at Wilkinson. It also led to the formation of the Environmental Club, where students from all grades meet up during lunch to discuss the impact of human activity on the Earth and what they can do to help. The sturgeon has already served as a catalyst for talks about watershed health, ethical fishing and more.
Recently, Shultz challenged her club members to think of their own “passion projects” related to the environment. Maybe a student is concerned about pollution in the ocean, for example, or the survival of monarch butterflies. Shultz will then work with them on action plans such as fundraisers and public awareness campaigns.
“I want them to feel inspired, and to know that they can make a difference,” Shultz said.
Asenath Jones-Richmond, the principal at Wilkinson Middle School, said she is
astonished by how Shultz’s sturgeon project has grown into something so much more.
“When she first got approved for the fish, she came to me and said this was something we could do, and I told her she had our full support. Everyone was on board,” JonesRichmond said. “We’re just flabbergasted with the knowledge we’re gaining. And the children simply love it. It’s just been a very impactful thing for our students, caring for the fish and checking in on it. It builds up their socio-emotional learning. And living in Michigan surrounded by all this water, it’s the best place, geographically, to learn about something like this, and to understand the natural habitat of the fish.”
She said the projects being discussed in the Environmental Club could also spark an interest in the students that will lead to lifelong pursuits — even careers.
“Through this conservation effort in the club, they’re talking about things like recycling the paper they use every day, or the dangers of global warming and what they can do to save the world. And we really hope that we’re growing careers through this effort,” Jones-Richmond said. “These kids could become future scientists who discover ways to preserve the environment. They could become biologists and zoologists protecting species. All these things make for such a wonderful opportunity, and it all stemmed from this one fish.”
C.O.P.S Care
the phone or have biweekly or monthly inperson checks to their home. During the initial interview process, seniors will work with the officers to choose a schedule that works best for them in terms of calls or inperson visits.
Participants are informed during the interview that if they do not respond to one of the scheduled checks, the officers will respond to their home like a welfare check, according to Beydoun.
“That doesn’t mean we’re going to go busting down any doors. It just means we’re going to go to their house and try to make contact to make sure that they’re OK,” she said. “If we’re looking through the window and see that they are on the ground and they don’t look like they’re doing very well, then at that point we will do what we have to do as police to get them the assistance that they need.”
During the scheduled calls or checkins, the officers will ask general questions to see if the senior needs anything or wants more information on any social activities.
Beydoun hopes that through the
C.O.P.S Care program, the Clawson Police Department can begin to build a relationship of trust with the senior citizen community.
“With our program, the goal is to try to prevent emergencies and to rebuild that trust, and to kind of educate them as well, because a lot of times too we go to their houses for things like identity theft, fraud, you know, scams, things like that,” Beydoun said.
Through the C.O.P.S Care program, Beydoun hopes to mend the divide of trust between seniors and first responders, while giving them a sense of security and comfort while they continue to live in their homes.
“This is a huge passion of mine, this program. And I hope we can get more eyes on it and more exposure so that we have more participants,” Beydoun said. “The seniors are a very important part of my life. I’ve always been raised to respect your elders. So that’s kind of how everything started.”
Enroll or refer a senior to the C.O.P.S Care program by contacting officer Aundreana Beydoun at the Clawson Police Department at aallen@cityofclawson.com or call (248) 435-5000.
FULL-SERVICE CANCER CARE CENTERED
Novi High School grants Farmington boy’s wish to go to Disney World
BY CHARITY MEIER cmeier@candgnews.com
NOVI/FARMINGTON — “Thank you” was all a little boy from Farmington could muster after learning that the students at Novi High School have funded his wish to go to Disney World with his family through Make-A-Wish Michigan.
Henry Tudor, 8, a student at Lanigan Elementary School in Farmington, like his brother Max, 11, suffers from cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes issues with breathing and digestion and can damage organs. The disorder is caused by a mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene, which causes mucus in the body to be thick and sticky instead of slippery.
As a result of CF, Henry and Max undergo extensive breathing treatments twice a day to break up the mucus in their lungs. The treatments take 20-30 minutes each time.
“They can’t cough it up,” said their mother, Christina. “When they have a cough, they can’t get it up, so then it stays down in their lungs and it starts to turn into bacteria and different infections.”
She said the infections are life-threatening. Henry and Max are not able to absorb the nutrients that they need from food and have to take different medications to help them with that.
“On top of that, Henry is resistant to some of the antibiotics that help to fight infections, and they have a lot of different allergies,” Christina said. “We have to wear masks everywhere we go.”
Henry and Max’s brother, Enzo, 12, is
epileptic.
As a result of her children’s illnesses, the Tudors are a single-income family. Christina stays home to take care of the children and their medical needs while her husband, Jason, works.
Max and Enzo had their wishes granted previously, and now Henry’s dream of going
to go to Walt Disney World thanks to the students at Novi High School and Make-A-Wish Michigan.
ABOVE:
to Disney will be fulfilled as well.
Members of the Novi High School Student Council surprised Henry with the trip during halftime at the Staff vs. Seniors Wish Week basketball game. The students had been raising funds all week through various events to cover the $20,000 all-expensespaid trip.
Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
“We collaborated with the administration, the council and everyone in the school to truly think of events that actually were new and a lot of people would come to,” said Haritha Akella, 17, president of the student council.
This year’s events included food trucks, See HENRY on page 9A
LEFT: Christina Tudor, of Farmington, watches as her son, Henry, 8, who has cystic fibrosis, learns Dec. 12 that he is going
Henry bows to the crowd in the Novi High School after learning that the students funded his wish to go to Walt Disney World.
pie-a-senior, a Brawl Stars video game tournament, a pancake breakfast, school concerts and the basketball game.
“This event was previously held in the spring, but we moved it to December because of Christmas,” said Clara Pohlonski, 16, vice president of the student council. “We find that people are more in the giving spirit.”
The students revealed the trip to Henry by calling him to center court and asking him to look at the digital display board on
Robotics
from page 5A
two years and is one of the robot’s drivers.
Radowiec, a seventh grader from Ferndale, was ecstatic to win a state championship with the rest of his team.
“I didn’t even know we were going to get there,” he said. “And when we won, I was like, whoa, I did not expect that. The whole team put a bunch of effort into this, and I’m
the wall, which said, “Henry is going to …” and showed a picture of the Magic Kingdom, while students simultaneously held three handpainted banners that read, “You’re going to Disney.”
Henry’s jaw about hit the floor, and his mom said he was truly surprised. She said she too was surprised with how it was revealed, but she knew that Novi High School was sponsoring her son’s wish.
“I didn’t know it was going to be, like, this big thing, so it’s kind of cool,” Christina said. “I was kind of surprised. A lot of things were kept from me too, and I love it. A lot of it was a surprise and it’s wonderful.”
According to his mom, Henry loves
really happy that we made it this far.”
Kokotovich said he was impressed by how the team performed and how it didn’t get rattled by other teams, especially when its robot got hit or malfunctioned.
“They’re just driving and getting used to the controls and different situations, and just to watch them get better, put in that time and just want to be there was just really impressive,” he said. “They were able to handle it because of all that practice. And I’m just really, really impressed over the last
Legos and will definitely be checking out the Disney Lego store and the Minifigure Factory when they travel to Disney World in January. The store has large Lego art displays, a pick-a-brick wall, larger-than-life Disney models, Lego statues, collectable Lego sets, and a build and play area where kids can play with the Legos and test them on a track. The factory allows visitors to design and build their own Lego minifigure with clothes, accessories and more.
“He loves Legos. He loves, loves, loves ’em,” Christina said. “He’s always building different things.”
The Novi High School students felt good about the school’s effort.
year, all the time they put in and seeing how it blossomed into actually winning.”
In addition to the state championship, Kokotovich was awarded the Compass Award. The award “recognizes an adult coach or mentor who has given outstanding guidance and support to a team throughout the year and demonstrates to the team what it means to be a gracious professional,” as described by the FIRST Robotics Competition. Compass Award winners are nominated by the student competitors.
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“It really does mean a lot. Just doing this Wish Week during this holiday time, it just all comes together in the spirit of giving and it means a lot,” Pohlonski said.
Akella agreed, saying that it was “super cool” to be able to raise such a large amount of money in a short time to send a child to Disney World.
“It is really cool how we meet that goal every single year and we’re able to actually see that come true in, like, a child’s eyes,” Akella said.
Pohlonski said she has done this event for the last three years and it just “warms her heart” to be able to reveal to a child that their wish is coming true.
“He’s a really awesome dude,” Radowiec said. “He buys stuff for the team. He does a lot of stuff. He helps us with everything.”
“It was absolutely awesome,” Kokotovich said of winning the award. “It was really, really touching that they would go through that effort to actually put together something to say good things about me.”
Giggle Pickles now will compete in the FIRST Championship in Houston April 1619, 2025.
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Santino Ferrucci drives a Chevroletengined IndyCar during the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix weekend on June 1.
Photo by Dean Vaglia
Detroit Auto Show to feature ‘Racing Day’ Jan. 17
BY JONATHAN SZCZEPANIAK jszczepaniak@candgnews.com
DETROIT — The Motor City has added a thrilling experience to the 2025 Detroit Auto Show.
The Detroit Auto Show, slated to be open to the public Jan. 11-20 at Huntington Place in Detroit, and the Detroit Grand Prix have worked in collaboration to provide auto show attendees with the return of Racing Day on Jan. 17.
The two brands that pride themselves on embodying the automotive culture of Detroit will offer an array of interactive experiences for attendees, providing two Detroit Grand Prix interactive display areas on the concourse area at Huntington Place, which is free and open to the public, and the floor of the Detroit Auto Show. The floor display area will be located “trackside.”
A brand-new feature to the show will be the addition of two indoor tracks. One track will feature signature characteristics of the Detroit Grand Prix that is set to gear up for May 30-June 1.
The track will be accessible throughout the entirety of the Detroit Auto Show, but Jan. 17 will be dedicated to the Racing Day festivities where the Detroit Auto Show said in a press release that attendees will have the opportunity to “witness the intersection of automotive innovation and competitive mo-
Ice resurfacer
from page 3A
“She is so loyal. She gives everything that she has to the ice arena and the organizations that utilize it. She really puts her heart into everything that she does, and she really cares so much for the community that comes and visits our ice arena and our park system.”
Naming machinery is not a tradition Birmingham has had for long. The city has
torsports.”
“The Detroit Grand Prix embodies innovation and the spirit of Detroit,” Sam Klemet, co-executive director of the Detroit Auto Show, said in a press release. “We are thrilled to have a partnership with the Detroit Grand Prix and bring this amazing experience of Racing Day to the 2025 Detroit Auto Show.”
Attendees will also have the opportunity to interact with some of the Detroit Grand Prix’s very own racers from NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT by Firestone. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden is slated to make an appearance. Several cars will also be on display as well.
“We’re excited to partner with the Detroit Auto Show and bring together two great Detroit traditions,” Michael Montri, president of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, said in a press release. “For many years, Racing Day was a popular attraction at the Detroit Auto Show and we look forward to bringing this tradition back to the Motor City with some of the highpowered stars and cool race cars that take center stage every summer at the Detroit Grand Prix.”
The Detroit Auto Show will make additional announcements about Racing Day as the show nears.
For more information, visit detroitau toshow.com.
only recently begun involving the community in the naming of new machinery that is purchased. Prior to the new ice resurfacer, the city named three sweepers: Sweep Caroline, Meryl Sweep and Sweeping Beauty.
Laird said they always receive a lot of responses on the Engage Birmingham website when they launch a new initiative to choose a name for a city resource.
“I consider the ice rink my second home, so I really appreciate that they honored me by naming the Zamboni after me,” Folk said.
