Progress 2016 Section H – Arts, Culture & Education

2016

ARTS, CULTURE & EDUCATION SECTION H

PROGRESS

Wednesday, March 30

A SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL ALSO INSIDE

Russell Thorburn poses for a promotional photo in Palm Springs. (Courtesy photo)

PAGE 2H Blind River: ‘a language all her own’

PAGE 3H ‘Star Wars’ takes brewery by storm Work and play

PAGE 4H 'Winona' premieres Wheel of life

PAGE 5H Peace and balance

MATHERNE

Traveling the world in

HEIDEMAN

cigar boxes Call for art entries

PAGE 6H Poverty a major challenge for U.P. kids Gwinn bonding proposal First-hand look

RAILEY

FINSTRO M

Of Poetry and Piano Chopin’s music, local poets featured in live one-time performance

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — The Romantic Polish composer Frederic Chopin is known as the “poet of the piano” for his hundreds of profoundly haunting pieces that still move listeners today.

Fascinated by that relationship between poetry and music, pianist Nancy Railey of Marquette created a unique event. She invited four contemporary poets to share a stage with her, giving a local audience the chance to experience these two powerful expressive forms in combination.

“Poetry in Words and Music” brought Chopin!s 24 complete preludes together with poetry readings by Jennifer Finstrom of Chicago and Kathleen Heideman, Beverly Matherne and Russell Thorburn of Marquette in August.

The event packed the Women!s Federated Clubhouse in Marquette, with admission helping to buy a new piano for the organization.

Matherne, an award-winning poet from Louisiana and professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University, predicted the audience would thrill to the “sensual double dose,” she said.

“Nancy Railey's performance of Chopin's passionate music will certainly stir the audience because she is a first-class musician,” Matherne said. “But adding poetry will move them even more deeply because poetry reaches into that subconscious place where joy and suffering live, just the way music does.”

The format allowed for the poetry and music to alternate for four rounds with an intermission halfway through. One poet read five to 10 minutes of original poetry before Railey played a set of six preludes.

The 24 preludes were all fairly short, ranging from extreme technical difficulty to intermediate-level difficulty, she said.

“But they!re all very, very beautiful. They describe all different moods. There are a couple that are incredibly full of anger and

a lot of sad pieces, because Chopin was in very precarious health and died at a very young age,” Railey said. “His music reflects the depth of suffering and also the heights of joy.”

Thorburn read a poem called “Detroit, on the Bus Headed Downtown, the Driver Is Listening to Chopin's Preludes,” dedicated to Philip Levine, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet best known for his pieces about working-class Detroit.

“I see Woodward Avenue and many cars and snow and a bus driver listening to Chopin on headphones. He is part of the preludes as he swerves to the music,” Thorburn said.

Author of four books of poetry and the first Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate for 2013-15, Thorburn has received numerous writing grants and taught hundreds of

See Poetry & Piano Continued on 2H

PAGE 7H Hematites build Tech transformation

PAGE 8H Generosity in Spades Bond approved

PAGE 9H JJ Packs sends healthy food home Bond passed

2H -— The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30

PROGRESS2016

Poetry & Piano Continued from 1H

poetry workshops over the last 20 years, according to his website, russthorburn.com.

Matherne read old and new poetry, “all of which has passionate tone and urgency like that found in Chopin's pieces,” she said.

“My poetry is lyrical, musical, people always tell me, so musical poetry and Chopin piano go together well,” Matherne said.

Heideman, President of the environmental group Save the Wild U.P. and

recipient of numerous grants and awards, is a writer, artist and educator, also with an established reputation in the U.P. and beyond.

Finstrom, the only poet traveling from out of state, is a composition instructor at DePaul University and poetry editor of Eclectica Magazine.

Now a retired professor and local piano teacher, Railey said she made it a life goal when she was young to learn Chopin!s sizable piano collection in its entirety, she said

“I don!t think I!m going to make it in this life, but I love his music; I love playing it,” Railey said.

“So I have tried throughout my life to learn as many of his pieces as I can.”

Railey studied piano performance at the Eastman School of Music, the American Conservatory of Music and Indiana University and has taught on the faculties of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. In Marquette, she,

along with local piano teacher and performer Bob Buchkoe, co-founded the Lake Superior Piano Workshop in 1988.

“I just really hope that people will be brought closer to great music and poetry through this event and maybe see a connection between the two,” Railey said.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Blind River: ‘a language all her own’ Local poet with international reputation releases new book

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Internationally-acclaimed bilingual poet Beverly Matherne released her sixth book in September, a haunting and enchanted collection of short stories and prose poems featured in both Cajun French and English.

According to novelist John Smolens, her stories “take us to that bittersweet intersection between innocence and experience, yearning and knowledge, faith, hope and disbelief. ... (Matherne) has forged a language all her own.”

Matherne, professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University and resident of Ishpeming, released “Bayou des Acadiens / Blind River” with a reading at Bethany Lutheran Church in Ishpeming.

The book is published by Éditions Perce-Neige, 2015, and is available to purchase locally at Snowbound Books in Marquette.

Matherne!s work draws heavily from her childhood memories in Cajun Louisiana where she was raised about 40 miles west of New Orleans, surrounded by a rich story-telling tradition and the music of the area: Cajun, country western, jazz and blues.

Born into a family of 14 on a tobacco and sugar cane farm in the small agrarian town of Grand Point, Matherne said she was lucky to grow up in that warm and exuberant culture.

“I write a lot out of longing for that place,” Matherne said. “I write a lot about just how brief our lives are and about death, but I also like to

At left, award-winning poet Beverly Matherne, professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University, serves tea at her historic home in Ishpeming, built in 1894. Her latest collection of prose, poems and short stories was released in September. Above, the tea set placed for guests at her historic home. Her house was featured twice in tours of historic homes and buildings in Marquette County. (Journal photos by Mary Wardell)

write an occasional funny poem.”

She is recognized as being the first among a small group of writers to record the unique language and culture of the region.

Derived from the original French spoken by early settlers in Louisiana, Cajun French also incorporates words of African, Spanish, Native American and English origin.

“French has never been a foreign language for me because I heard it my entire life,” Matherne said.

“But Cajun French is a language passed on by word of mouth and until very recently, there was no written Cajun French.

But it!s about two hands full of us who have been writing, who are for the first time putting the language down on paper.”

Matherne!s previous work has received national and international recognition. She has won seven first-place prizes in poetry, including the Hackney Literary Award for Poetry, and has received four Pushcart nominations.

She is one of eight writers, including Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov, whose bilingual writing process is the subject of a completed doctoral dissertation from University of Paris III. Matherne has done over 300 readings across the

U.S., Canada and France, and in Belgium, Germany, Spain and Wales. Notable among many venues, she has read at the prestigious Shakespeare and Company in Paris and for a millennial event at the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at the United Nations in New York.

Locally, Matherne has been recognized for her service to NMU, where she at various times served as director of the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing, director of the Visiting Writers Series and poetry editor of Passages North literary magazine. She received an Excellence in Scholarship Award from NMU in 2009-10 and the Outstanding Writer award from the Marquette Arts and Culture Association in 2010.

But Matherne is known among closer friends for her hospitality and culinary expertise.

She moved to Marquette in 1991 and later purchased a Victorian home in Ishpeming built in 1894. In the process of restoring it, she has outfitted the home with antiques, art and furniture authentic to the time the house was built. It has been featured twice in tours of historic homes and buildings in Marquette County.

Her new book features a 10-part prose poem set

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On why she writes poetry, Matherne said it is not a pragmatic thing. Instead, she is motivated by a “kind of human communion” that she experiences both in the writing and performance of her work.

“Poetry chooses you, you don!t choose it,” she said. “And you have to do it if you!ve been chosen to do it. If you don!t, you will fall ill and die. I think if somebody told me today, "Beverly you will never write another poem or another story.!

I!d say, "Well, I don!t think I care to continue living.!”

Matherne holds a Ph.D. in drama from

Saint Louis University and master!s and bachelor!s degrees in English from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She also did post-doctoral, graduate studies in French at the University of California at Berkeley.

Long before establishing herself as a poet, Matherne began her college career as a visual artist in charcoal and watercolors, then studied English and theater.

“With art, I was having to sell my meal ticket to be able to afford art supplies,” Matherne said, laughing as she recalled.

“And all I needed to be an English major was a

typewriter and a little bit of paper, so I made the switch. And I never regretted it.”

Matherne has published widely in journals and magazines around the country, most recently in the anthology, “Here: Women Writing on Michigan!s Upper Peninsula,” from Michigan State University Press, 2015.

To find out more about Matherne!s poetry and other work, visit her website at www.beverlymatherne.com.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

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The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 3H

PROGRESS 2016

‘Star Wars’ takes brewery by storm Art show celebrates film, community at free event

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — The semiannual “Culture of Cult” pop-up art series returned to the Ore Dock Brewing Co. for its fourth installment with a “Star Wars” theme in November, featuring costumed characters of cinematic quality and a wide variety of media on display.

“The Art of Force,” featured submissions from almost 55 artists from the local community and Northern Michigan University, as well as from the United Kingdom, France and Canada. The event was free and hundreds of people turned out.

The Ore Dock offered two new brews in honor of the event, which arrived just ahead of “Star Wars: Episode VII,” which hit theaters Dec. 18.

“Through a set of themes, artists come together to help break

down the high-brow stigma of art collectives and create a gallery of familiar content,” according to the show!s website, www.cultureofcult.com Founder Mike Forester, originally from the Metro Detroit area, is the art director of NMU!s marketing and communications team. He started the event in 2014 to offer an alternative outlet for artists and their audiences who may not identify with art in the traditional sense.

“You see in California and New York, they have pop culture-inspired galleries, and that is really helpful to break down a lot of the stigmas of what a gallery should be,” Forester said.

After graduating from NMU in 2009, Forester returned to Detroit where the city!s art scene was — and is — undergoing a cultural resurgence, he said. When Forester moved back to Marquette

with his fiancé, he wanted to bring something with him.

Thursday!s show will be a “night of nostalgia,” he said.

“The fun part of course is you will be able to meet and take photos with some very special characters,” Forester said. “These guys have spent thousands of dollars. One of the guys actually spent $6,000 and it took him two years to make (his costume).”

It!s the closest most people will ever get to being on the set of a “Star Wars” film, he added.

The juried series, which has grown in popularity since its premiere, features a different theme for each pop-up exhibit.

The number of artists submitting has steadily increased, Forester said.

The nature of a pop-up gallery makes the event even more special, he added.

Storm and sand troopers pose for photos for “The Art of Force” pop-up art show which was held in November.

(Photo courtesy of Josh Leclair of Leclair-Photo.com)

“We literally set it up the night before and we tear it down the morning after, so it!s very much an event that you need to be in town,” Forester said.

“There!s a real priority because once it!s (gone), it!ll exist online but you don't get to see it anymore.”

The exhibit was sponsored by Taiga Games at 1015 N. Third St., a new

addition to Marquette!s growing small business community that specializes in comic books, role playing games, board games, puzzles and more.

Stormy Kromer, for whom Forester is an ambassador, he said, released limited edition hats just for the occasion.

The one-night exhibit was a celebration of com-

munity and of art, Forester said, as well as all the imaginative, obscure and interesting forms pop culture takes.

“It!s a great time to be a nerd,” he said.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Work and play

Summer string camp offers kids myriad benefits

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Learning that hard work and having fun are not mutually exclusive is just one of the many benefits of studying music, according to Danielle Simandl, executive director of Superior String Alliance.

“It!s so hard to describe what music does for you,” Simandl said.

“The biggest thing about music-making is that if you want to do it so it really means something to you, it!s always about knowing that hard work and having fun happen at the same time.”

SSA, founded in 1984, is an educational nonprofit organization that supports the art of learning and performing music on the violin, viola, cello, and bass throughout Michigan's Upper Peninsula. SSA provides music education for string students grades 4-12 through the SSA Summer Music Camp, as well as performance opportunities for the professional string musicians who are camp faculty members through the SSA Chamber Players.

“It!s such a privilege to partake in, ... just this ever-evolving creature every single year,” Simandl said. “And never would I have guessed that it would be where it is today when I got there the first day five years ago.”

There are three summer camps for different

grade levels (Camps Allegro, Presto and Vivace).

The camp experience consists of about six to seven hours per day of many kinds of music training, with a daily private lesson for each student, chamber orchestra and ensemble rehearsals, performance coaching and workshops.

Daily workshops aim to bring students outside the classical music realm, with titles like Playing with a Garage Band, How to Arrange Pop Music, Jazz Improv, Fiddling, Music Theory Games, Rhythm and Body Movement and Song-Writing.

But between all the rehearsals, lessons and practicing are many fun camp activities like writing cabin songs, swimming, playing field games, sitting around bonfires, performing in talent shows and eating with the SSA gang during relaxing meal times, according to SSA!s website.

“Everyone!s musicianship and personal development thrive in the infectiously positive energy that has become this camp!s trademark,” the

website says.

Funding for the camp comes from a mixture of individual donations, community grants and tuition. But about one-third of the campers need financial assistance and another third need a fullride scholarship, Simandl said.

“And the mission is, we!ve never turned away kid who can!t pay,” Simandl explained.

The majority of SSA campers are from Marquette, Negaunee, Gwinn and Escanaba, while the remainder are from lower Michigan or out-of-state.

There is a large need for scholarship money for campers and their families, according to the website. Even though tuition for SSA's program is less than one-third the costs of many music camps in lower Michigan and elsewhere, it is still difficult for many SSA campers to pay the full tuition fee.

Simandl, 28, became music director of the camp five years ago right out of college. A native of Marquette, she graduated with two bachelor!s

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degrees from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in violin performance and gender studies. Simandl also has her master of music in violin performance and is working toward a certificate of violin performance from from DePaul University in Chicago.

Last year, she took over responsibilities as execu-

tive director in addition to remaining camp music director.

“My sound-byte way to describe is it!s the dream job that I never knew existed until I actually had it,” Simandl said. “It was an opportunity that got dropped into my lap due to timing of the organization and where I was. ... It's already five years later, and

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it's been nothing but hard work, tie-dye, laughing and beautiful music making since then. ” Visit www.superiorstringalliance.org online to learn more.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

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4H — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30

PROGRESS2016

‘Winona’ premieres

Wheel of life Award-winning potter finds purpose, joy after retirement

U.P. filmmaker brings mining history, ghosts, memories to light Filmmaker and retired Northern Michigan University professor Michael Loukinen, at right with a 16 mm camera, has an upcoming documentary that will preserve the memory of the once-bustling town of Winona, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of Michael Loukinen)

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — The hardest part about finishing a documentary, says filmmaker Michael Loukinen, is parting ways with 90 percent of his material, which, due to time constraints, just can!t make the cut.

“What we do in editing is "kill babies,!” Loukinen joked, quoting his senior editing advisor Andrew Attalai, a Toronto-based filmmaker.

Loukinen, a retired Northern Michigan University sociology professor, has been producing documentaries for 35 years. He said he had to part with many “babies” as he worked on his latest film, “Winona: A Copper Mining Ghost Town,” premiered at which Northern Michigan University in September.

Loukinen said while it!s not an action flick, he hopes people understand the worth and vitality of these stories that would otherwise be lost forever.

“The big world out there is not dying to see a film about a copper mining town where there!s like maybe 13 people left,” Loukinen said. “But somehow these traditional subcultures who are on, if not the edge of extinction, getting close to it — they fascinate me.

And I want to record them before they!re gone.”

The film!s length can!t exceed an hour for it to be aired on public television, as Loukinen!s 14 previous documentaries have been. So to include more stories and priceless footage, Loukinen is releasing an extended version as well.

Selecting what to keep and what to cut was agonizing, he said, because the story — which covers the rise and painful deterioration of Winona — incorporates so much historical and environmental context, plus countless memories of heroism, death, fortitude and humor.

Winona was once a thriving town of approximately 3,000 people about 35 miles south of Houghton.

Before 1920 when the mine closed, Winona contained a hotel, boarding houses, restaurants, a brewery, saloon, several stores, boardwalks, five neighborhoods, a dance hall and a barber shop. Today, only a few homes, a school, a church and 13 residents remain.

“An ethereal feeling sweeps over me while walking through the remains,” Loukinen said.

“The ghost town atmosphere is overwhelming; one can almost hear the miners, trains and children playing, and the immigrants speaking ancestral languages.”

Ten years in the making, “Winona” has been his lengthiest project, due to the research, interviewing and editing in-

volved, as well as the hectic schedules and personal challenges of Loukinen and his team.

Grant Guston, NMU!s chief engineer of WNMU TV and FM radio, worked on graphics, videography and studio engineering, while NMU students Alex Maier did much of the editing and nature videography and Lauren Thomasinas and Kris Thomas assisted with editing.

Guston was with Loukinen when he first visited the town.

Based on the merit of Loukinen!s previous work about native Anishinaabe, Finnish American farmers and early woodsman of the Upper Peninsula, he and Guston were invited in 2006 to film the centennial of the Elm River Township Elementary School in Winona. Once a bustling K-12 school central to the life of the community, it now serves a total of five students, Loukinen said.

After filming the centennial, envisioning the documentary and collecting some initial footage, the filmmakers put the project on hold for a number of years.

Then Loukinen learned Wilbert Leppanen, one of their first interviews, had died. His daughter, Patti Leppanen-Whitt, contacted the filmmakers about getting a copy of his interview.

When Loukinen eventually watched it with her, he realized just how much the story meant, both to Patti and to himself.

“In the long run, communities are fragile and memory is usually lost,” Loukinen said. “What I!ve created for Winonans, largely those in exile — the Winona diaspora — is some memories of their community that would otherwise have vanished.”

Life was grueling for the European immigrant families who came to work — and often die — in the mines. Before worker!s unions and modern regulations, mining companies owned by east coast

investors had no financial incentive to make the work safe or clean, Loukinen said. And when the copper deposits were extracted, the company left, taking enormous profits and leaving behind hazardous waste for taxpayers to clean up.

“After the mine closed, the company shut down the power plant, the electricity, the running water, stopped the trolley service, sold a few of the homes, destroyed the others — I don!t know why — and the people found work in other nearby mining communities for a little while, and also at sawmills,” Loukinen explained. “So that!s how people survived.”

This history has a great deal to teach us, Loukinen said, like holding mines to high environmental standards and being aware of the “boom and bust” economy they propagate.

“They create jobs for only a limited period and then they!re gone,” he said. “So the lesson is bust follows the boom.

And largely the wealth is sent elsewhere.”

But the other lesson Loukinen hopes people derive from the film is the importance of learning and recording family history, so it isn!t “lost in the great mists of time,” he said.

Loukinen used the analogy of walking deep in the woods during winter: if snow covers your tracks, you may not find your way out of the woods.

“If we don!t understand the past,” Loukinen said, “Then we don!t understand ourselves in the present.”

Funding for the film was provided by a 2013 NMU faculty research grant, Friends of the Michigan Technological University Archives Grant, a sabbatical award, and Michael Loukinen and Elaine Foster.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Potter Pat Black of Iron River didn!t discover her love of the craft until after her daughter grew up and she retired from her longtime position as county treasurer in Wheatland County, Montana.

“I!m just retired and living a dream, basically,” Black said.

Black!s pottery was featured in the annual Northern Exposure regional competition and exhibit in November at the William Bonifas Fine Arts Center in Escanaba. She earned two awards, including Featured Artist and The Mining Journal!s Media Award, and is looking forward to contributing to another exhibit in October at the Alberta House in Sault Ste. Marie.

After living with the demands and responsibilities of a full adult life, it!s a blessing to have time for exploration, Black said.

“To have the "have-to!s! out of the way and (to) get to do the "want-to!s,! it!s just a very special time,” Black said.

Upon retiring in April 2006, Black and her husband, Vaughn, moved to Crystal Falls. Originally from downstate, Vaughn had vacationed in the U.P. as a kid and always wanted to return. Black, who grew up in Denver, Colo., fell in love with area right away. That!s when she found the Crystal Falls Contemporary Center and, though she had dabbled with pottery and other art forms here and there, in 2007 she committed herself to learning the craft.

In 2011, the Blacks moved to Iron River and a couple years ago, they built a pottery studio in their home. Black remains active at the Center, where she loves the people and the opportunity it offers, she said.

Creating art is a drive Black has always had, she said, because it rewards a deep part of her spirit.

“It!s soul-satisfying,”

Black explained. “And the other thing is the joy of seeing other people purchase my things and take them home and enjoy them. I just find that that is an incredible honor for me.”

Black sells her pottery at Eckels Pottery in Bayfield Wis., and at Parkside Gallery in Minocqua, Wis. Early on, she began to incorporate indigenous natural elements into most of her pieces, such as stones, birch bark and moss, which fit nicely with the clay, she said.

“Immersing myself in the natural beauty that surrounds us up here, I was just inspired,” Black said. “I!m a rock hound at heart, and I started looking at stones on Lake Superior. They!re astounding, they!re just absolutely astounding. You have every color in the rainbow. They!re already polished and smooth and ready to use.”

Inlaying stones and other natural elements inspires the design of each pot, a unique approach she said she hasn!t seen other potters do.

“God!s given me this talent and so how cool to use his creation to embellish it?” Black said.

“I!ve always been a nature lover. I!ve always been in the woods or the mountains. ... I!ve always had a real love for nature and the beauty that you find there, so it!s fun to create this marriage in an art form.”

But pottery has been a learning process with lots of trial and error, Black

added.

“There!s a lot of stages to get to the finished product, from throwing (on the potter!s wheel) to designing to carving, texturing, glazing, doing the inlay — and your pot really rests on how the glaze turns out. So you can put all this time into it, and if you get a really nasty glaze or the firing doesn't go right, you cry,” Black said with a wry laugh. “But you also celebrate when it turns out right.”

Black said she is thankful to her husband of 21 years for all of his support, to the Bonifas for offering artists the opportunity to share and be recognized for their work, and to God, for blessing her with the gift and the ability to pursue it.

Black didn!t know being an artisan would become part of her life, but said she encourages everyone — especially people who think they!re too old to learn a new skill — to take a chance.

“I think people need to experiment. Everyone has interests and you can!t be afraid to try things. You never know where that!s (going to) lead you,” she said. “I think when we!re young, we!re afraid to fail, but when you!re retired, you!ve already been through that, so jump in, do it. ... Go discover.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

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The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 5H

PROGRESS2016

Peace and balance Retired teacher spreads joy through origami art

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Origami artist Judy Sarosik of Marquette is captivated by the beautiful elements, gentle movement and perfect balance of every peace crane mobile she constructs.

“I get so excited, it!s crazy,” Sarosik said. “And ... I do fall in love with each one pretty much, but I!m never sorry to let them go.”

Making the mobiles is a lengthy process. Sarosik gathers pieces of driftwood and roots as she walks along beaches and through the woods, folds each colorful piece of paper, selects beads and other items, then putting it all together, makes adjustments to the delicate balance as she adds every piece.

Sarosik likes to lie under the mobiles when she practices yoga, she said.

“They!re very wonderful to watch, because they move so slowly and they form different figures,” explained, Sarosik adding that her dentist and other medical professionals have requested them to hang over patient!s beds. “I!ll tell you, when I!ve been (to my dentist!s) sometimes with the drill, it soothes me.”

The mobiles are soothing for babies as well, and the faces of children and adults alike tend to

light up when they see Sarosik!s work at art shows, she said.

“The crane is a symbol of peace,” Sarosik explained. “I make other mobiles too, I make owls and I make fish, but for me, my real love is the crane. I like that it!s more 3-dimensional when you lay underneath it, but I like that it!s a universal symbol of peace.”

Sarosik said she also loves the process of collecting, peeling and oiling the wood used to hang the paper and beads on.

The roots start off ratty and dirty, but transforming them into smooth and shining art, revealing all the color, texture and other elements, is “such a thrill for me,” she said.

Collecting driftwood is a pleasure too, since walking the beach is a favorite pastime, she added.

Art was always a great way to draw students into whatever subject Sarosik was teaching, she said.

She graduated from Northern Michigan University in elementary education in 1970 before earning her master!s. In addition to teaching first and third grades in NICE community schools, she was involved in many teacher organizations.

Sarosik served on the board of directors for the Michigan Reading Association, locally directed the Young Authors Pro-

gram, was president of the Marquette-Alger Reading Council, and just three years ago was a guest speaker at the Michigan Art Education Association!s annual teacher!s conference.

“I taught in the heyday of teaching, we were so free,” she explained.

“There were things we had to teach of course, but we got to take the curriculum as a sort of skeleton and add all this richness to it.

“I still have kids say, these are adults right now, "Those were the best years of my life.! ... It was the best career I could!ve ever chosen for myself.”

Sarosik said she doesn!t consider herself particularly talented at most traditional art, like drawing or painting. But finding the right balance in the mobiles is its own unique art, she said.

The mobiles are sold at a few places in Marquette, but the best way to buy one is to contact her through her Facebook page, “Peace Crane Mobiles.” She can also be reached by calling 869-8909.

She accepts commissions, and has done work creating family tree mobiles as well.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Call for art entries U.P. artists get a chance at ArtPrize

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Upper Peninsula artists will have a special venue to compete and showcase their art at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids this fall — their very own pavilion and the chance to win 10 prizes totaling more than $500,000.

ArtPrize is a “radically open, independently organized” international art competition and nonprofit organization, according to its website.

Running September 21 through October 9, it is recognized as the most attended public art event on the planet, according to The Art Newspaper.

William Bonifas Fine Arts Center Director Pasqua Warstler said more than 400,000 people attend each year.

Staff at the Bonifas Arts Center, an awardwinning regional art center in Escanaba, initiated the 2016 ArtPrize U.P. Pavilion partnership.

Warstler said the ArtPrize venue will provide artists with amazing connections for galleries, other artists and sales.

“But it!s also a time to be seen and maybe try something experimental and new. And also, for the U.P. Pavilion, it!s representing the whole region,” Warstler said. “It!s kind of a "coming out,! so people see that the U.P.

Traveling the world in cigar boxes Local artist finds new life in old things

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — What does one do with all the memorabilia that accumulates in the corners, boxes and basements of life?

Marquette writer, photographer and visual artist Christine Saari found an answer.

With her ongoing project, Saari brings new life to old keepsakes in a collection of cigar boxes transformed into small shrines.

“Each one of them has a story really, connected to the idea or the memory or the materials,” Saari said.

Born and raised on a small family farm in the Austrian Alps during WWII, Saari!s early life is documented in her book “Love and War at Stag Farm,” published in 2011.

The book was the culmination of a 20-year labor of love she calls “Family Album.” It is a multi-media series created by piecing together, through letters, photographs and artifacts, the details of her parents! love, separation and her father!s eventual death on the Eastern front.

“I had been doing really heavy duty emotional work for many years,” Saari said. “("Family Album! deals) with universal issues like loss, war, celebration, generational turnover. ... It was very heart-wrenching, and it cost me a lot of tears.”

Saari said the piece was exhibited locally, across the Midwest and as far away as Montana, but it is now permanently on display in the hayloft of her childhood farm in Austria, where

Saari and her family still visit every spring.

Following that project, the cigar boxes turned out to be an unlikely, but ideal next step, she explained.

“I was really exhausted,” Saari said. “So this is what happened. It!s just playful and lighthearted. It gives me a lot of joy.”

The shrines feature knickknacks Saari acquired in her extensive travels, gifts from friends, old keepsakes from her childhood and little trinkets that just happened to capture her imagination.

They are all recycled objects that have been resurrected, so to speak.

This is meant to be a statement in our “throwaway” culture, she added, where too much is frivolously bought and disposed of.

“Some of them are broken,” Saari said, fingering the missing hand of one of her dolls. “They are not perfect, and that!s part of it. Things don!t have to be perfect. ... Don!t throw things away, you know.

They might find a new life.”

They illustrate how to create order from chaos in a small container, Saari said.

“Poetry does that, and so these are kind of like poems, ...,” Saari said.

“Serendipitous things happen, and it!s the challenge of making something out of nothing, ... to find a way to give new life to old things.”

Saari married her husband Jon, from Wisconsin, in 1964, and moved to Boston, before eventually moving to Marquette in 1971. Raising two boys, the family has been in Marquette ever since — except for when they were traveling the world.

Since her husband is a retired professor of Chinese history at Northern Michigan University, the pair travelled throughout Asia, as well as Eastern and Western Europe, Africa and the Americas, living for stretches in China, Nepal, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

“We love to travel,” Saari said. “You learn a lot about yourself when you!re in foreign countries.”

Saari!s photographs, many taken on her travels, have been featured in conjunction with her writing in newspapers and magazines in the U.S., Austria and China. She has been a regular contributor to Marquette Monthly and the Austrian women!s magazine, “Welt der Frau.”

Saari has received a variety of awards for her photos, an Art in Public Places grants and funding from the US-China Peoples Friendship Association, the Jerome Foundation, the Michigan Council for the Arts, the Marquette Arts Council and the Northern Economic Initiative Corporation.

Saari!s work is on permanent display at the Capitol Commons in Lansing and the Marquette County Courthouse.

The process of going through old trinkets has sort of been a way to “relive my travels in the boxes and the bags,” she said.

“It was the perfect project,” Saari said, “Because I was at home, traveling all over the world in my mind.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

An entry by Micheal Letts that was entered into a previous Artprize competition. (Journal file photo)

can stand proudly on an international platform.”

The DeVos Place, located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids with a river-front setting, will host the U.P. Pavilion, reserving over 500 linear feet of space sympathetic to many mediums of art, according to a Bonifas press release.

Registration is $50 and the deadline is April 22.

The venue is juried and artists must be 18 years or older.

Two $200,000 grand prizes and eight category prizes are awarded, half decided by public vote and half decided by a jury of art experts, according to the release.

“Each venue selects the artists that will be displayed in their venue so it!s a very democratic process, it!s an exciting process and with this new conversation, the U.P. wants to storm ArtPrize and wants to be part of that conversation,” Warstler said.

ArtPrize 2016 has about 1,500 entries so far and more than 160 venues, with concerts, lectures and other events happening simultaneously. ArtPrize is free to attend.

Marquette Arts and Culture Center Manager Tiina Harris said she is extremely excited about this collaboration with the Bonifas, one of many more to come.

“This is a unique opportunity that doesn!t just involve art centers,” Harris said. “The chamber of commerce, Travel Marquette, all the organizations that want to promote arts and culture and get people to find out what!s happening here and visit and travel to Marquette (will benefit). I!m also super excited for the local artists in Marquette. This is a great opportunity.”

A handful of U.P. artists have participated in ArtPrize in recent years, but having a large space dedicated entirely to the U.P. will allow them to help each other transport their pieces, share travel expenses and experience ArtPrize together, Harris said. It!s important for artists to have the chance to sell their art outside the U.P., she added.

“It!s huge U.P. pride, because we know how wonderful it is up here,” Harris said. “And artists really capture what!s amazing about the U.P., and I think that our artists are unique because of it. They are shaped by our environment here.”

Visit www.artprize.org to register or find out more.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

At left and below are examples of artist Christine Saari!s multi-media cigar boxes.

(Journal file photos)

6H — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30

PROGRESS2016

Poverty a major challenge for U.P. kids

Local experts discuss possible solutions with legislators

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Since 2010, poverty rates for children under 17 in counties throughout the Upper Peninsula have remained stable at about 20-30 percent, according to the Kids Count Data Center from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Poverty impacts every developmental aspect of children's lives, often having lasting detrimental effects on a child's health, academic achievement, future employment and earning power, according to the U.P. Children's Coalition.

The coalition hosted their annual U.P. Kids Count conference in February, bringing together a panel of local experts and legislators to discuss challenges and solutions to improve the outlook for children and families in the U.P. The panel talked about economic insecurity, health risks like smoking and obesity, inadequate mental health services, geographical barriers to providing care, educational opportunities and more.

Amy Quinn, president/CEO of the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development said in eight U.P. counties that reported in 2015, there were 4,635 disconnected

youth — or one in five.

Disconnected youth are defined as people between the ages of 6 and 24 who are not in school and not working. The cost for these youth in services and lost tax revenue equals $2.3 million, Quinn said.

Investment in higher education, middle colleges, trades skills and transition services are critical — with the results evident, Quinn said.

“We see that it works, and we see these youth that were headed towards being disconnected, that trajectory changing for them,” Quinn said.

Terry Frankovich, pediatrician and medical director for 10 of the 15 U.P. counties, said public policy is the key to improving health outcomes for children. But that hasn't happened.

“There really hasn!t been a lot of improvement,” Frankovich said.

“Sorry to be depressing, but we haven!t moved the bar that much.”

The biggest statistical predictors for poor health is poverty and low educational achievement, she said, with poverty defined as less that $20,000 annual income for a family of three in the U.P. “So when we're talking about health, we're talking about economics as well,” she said.

Policies that diminish widening income disparity and support broad,

affordable health care can have tremendous benefits for infants and children, she said.

Twenty to 40 percent of U.P. women don't get adequate prenatal health care, which can lead to lower birth weight, health complications and higher mortality rates, Frankovich said. In 12 of 15 U.P. counties in 2014, more than 30 percent of women smoked during pregnancy. In four counties, that rate was over 40 percent, she said.

“Women don!t start smoking when they're pregnant, they!re smokers and they just aren!t able to quit,” Frankovich said, adding that many start in their teens.

Legislation raising the smoking age to 21 could help, she said.

Lead poisoning occurs in Michigan at a rate of 27 percent across communities, Frankovich said, and funding for that has dried up.

Meanwhile, Michigan is No. 4 in the country for vaccine waivers, with 2030 percent of kids in the U.P. not fully vaccinated, posing a risk for disease outbreak in their communities, she said. Legislation to require parental education before obtaining a waiver could improve this.

“The government really should do what we can!t do as individuals. I can!t

reduce smoking rates among kids to the level that legislation can,” Frankovich said. “I can!t keep kids from being exposed to lead, but funding that's put into lead prevention and abatement can do that, easily. I would submit that we actually have all the tools and expertise we need to do these things. We just need the political will to do them.”

Rep. Scott Dianda, DCalumet, said the crosscanibalization of public funding — taking funds from one need and applying them to another — is common among social programs.

In response to questions about Gov. Rick Snyder using the state School Aid Fund to help Flint and Detroit Public Schools, Rep. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan said the government's tobacco settlement dollars are being applied instead.

One questioner wondered where funds for tobacco cessation and prevention would come.

McBroom said many people have expressed anger that their tax dollars would go to support those hard-hit areas of southeastern Michigan.

But as chairman of the House Oversight Committee investigating the water crisis in Flint, he said what he saw on the ground there was paradigm-shifting.

“It's vital that we realize

that we are all part of the same state and that these children are at stake in Flint. And if we don!t respond aggressively now while they!re children, we will end up responding aggressively later and spending those dollars then,” McBroom said.

Legislators at the conference focused heavily on mental health as the most overlooked and looming issue facing schools and communities.

McBroom said he has learned just how decrepit and underfunded mental health services — specifically for substance abuse — really are in Michigan. A lack of beds,

geographic distances and lack of funding plague the system in the U.P., he said.

Kivela said mental health is an issue that pops up everywhere he goes.

“And I agree with Ed — what is the answer going forward? I can tell you what it's not,” Kivela said. “It's not less funding, and that's what we've done throughout the years. We've systematically cut funding I think when it's most crucial.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Gwinn bonding proposal

First-hand look

Gwinn schools face deficit heading into May bond election

State superintendent tours NICE Community Schools

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer GWINN — The hallway outside the principal!s office at K.I. Sawyer Elementary School has a few extra wastebaskets — filled, not with trash, but with the drippings from a 32-year-old leaking roof.

Certain parts of the building don!t get adequate heat.

And at the bus garage, the district!s transportation director and his assistant mechanic have their hands full with a fleet of 20 buses, many older than the kids they transport.

To meet these and other growing needs, the Gwinn Area Community Schools District is placing a $4.4 million bond issue on the May 3 ballot.

Meanwhile, the board of education this week approved the expansion of a spending deficit, largely a result of dwindling enrollment revenue.

Gwinn!s Board of Education unanimously passed a budget amendment in February that raises total deficit spending to $306,000 — a $6,800 increase from June projections.

But it!s not a true deficit, yet.

The deficit is paid for out of the general fund, giving it a new balance of $540,000.

Financial Director AJ Filizetti said that!s just over the legal minimum for a school!s general fund balance, which must be at least 5 per-

cent of the total budget.

If passed, the bond will cover needed improvements across the district!s three schools, paid for with a property tax increase of 1 mill over 15 years.

A mill is $1 of taxes paid for every $1,000 of state equalized value of property in the district.

State equalized value is half of the retail value of a property.

In addition to replacing aging and leaky roofs at both elementary schools, the bond would pay for repairs to the boiler and heating systems and new exterior doors to lower energy costs.

The bond would also cover modern security systems districtwide; new technology; updated flooring, entryways, ceiling tiles, plumbing and electrical systems; energy efficient lighting and uniform white boards; plus eight buses to upgrade the current fleet.

Filizetti said if the bond proposal doesn!t pass, the district will need to use its limited fund balance to replace the roof at K.I. Sawyer elementary — the most urgent of GACS facilities needs.

“If the bond does not pass, and we have to take the money out of our general fund to repair that roof, we would drop below our state-required 5 percent fund balance,” Filizetti said.

“We would have to try to find ways to balance the budget in the general fund.”

Informational meetings

have been scheduled around the district to discuss the bond proposal.

A list of times, dates and other information can be found online at www.gwinn.k12.mi.us by clicking “2016 Bond Information.”

One mill equals about $30 per year in increased taxes for the average homeowner in the district with a home retail value of $60,000. Residents can calculate their specific increase by going online to www.gwinn.k12.mi.us/B OE/calculator/millagecalculator.html.

Gwinn!s millage rate is currently .49 and would be 1.49 mills if the bond issue passes. That rate would drop to 1 mill in 2024 until the bond is paid off in 2031.

Superintendent Tom Jayne said GACS residents pay the lowest school tax rate in the region, which would still be true even after the additional mill.

“I think that!s very important, because it shows that we!re not here asking for "pie in the sky,!” Jayne said. “We!re not here asking for something that other districts haven!t already asked for.

They!re needs, they!re real needs. We can!t raise the money, there!s nobody that will give us that type of money.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

By LISA BOWERS Journal Ishpeming Bureau ISHPEMING — State Superintendent Brian Whiston took a tour of NICE Community Schools at the end of February to see some of the school!s most successful programs firsthand.

NICE Superintendent Bryan DeAugustine said he was contacted

by Whiston!s office earlier this month to schedule the tour of the facilities.

“Of course we were thrilled to take the opportunity to host him, and just really happy that he made the drive up from Lansing.”

DeAugustine said.

DeAugustine will use NICE as an example in an effort to promote a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, specifically by “identifying promoting and rewarding the implementation of promising practices,” an MDE Top Ten in 10 years Goals and Strategies announcement stated earlier this year.

“What we want to do is see the great things that the NICE school district is doing and then we!re creating a promising practice website where other districts can learn from these exciting successful programs,” Whiston said.

Whiston started his tour in one of the “Face to Face” university

classrooms Westwood High School offers as part of its Northern Promise program.

WHS was the first school in the U.P. to offer the concurrent enrollment program, offering NMU course credit in English and calculus.

Two WHS instructors are accredited to teach college level courses, and are paid by NMU for one hour per day and by WHS for the rest of the day. This allows students to recieve credit toward their diploma as well as college credits without leaving the high school building.

The program falls in line with Whiston!s goals for education statewide.

“My goal would be to have every student have an opportunity to take up to 60 college credits during their high school experience,” Whiston said. “It will help students get some college experience, and help their parents defray some the bill for college tuition.”

Whiston, who also visited the school!s auto and wood shops, said it is important to keep in mind that all students may not be interested in taking traditional college courses.

“What we want to do is create an educational system statewide that meets the needs of every student, so for some students that is

WHISTON

college credits some students thats career technical education,” Whiston said.

DeAugustine said the school employs two and a half full-time industrial arts teachers.

“We hear things about career technical education taking a back seat, that is certainly not true here at NICE community schools. We really put a premium on that and make sure that we financially support those programs and our kids really take advantage of the opportunity to take those hands-on classes,” DeAugustine said.

This is Whiston!s second trip to the U.P. since he began his tenure as superintendent in July, he was also in the area to attend the U.P. Special Education Conference being held at Northern Michigan University.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-4864401. Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.

The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 7H

PROGRESS2016

Hematites build

Using geometry concepts, students reconstruct apartments

By LISA BOWERS Journal Ishpeming Bureau ISHPEMING — Students in Ishpeming High School's geometry construction class started the new year by putting lessons learned in their classroom to practical use.

Students began work on a project that is the first of its kind in the state of Michigan, as they begin rehabilitating the existing structure at 320 E. Division St. across from the high school.

Students and community leaders broke ground in December on the twoyear project to rehabilitate the house.

Marquette County Treasurer Anne Giroux said the Marquette County Land Bank Authority acquired the building, formerly a two apartment structure, for the project.

The Cliffs/Eagle Mine Fund via the Community Foundation of Marquette County has provided a $50,000 grant toward completion of the project.

Course instructor Nate McFarren said the IHS class will conduct many of its labs inside the building to demonstrate different elements of geometry in each phase of the building's rehabilitation.

McFarren teaches two different classes, a beginner course and an ad-

vanced course. He said he wants to generate more interest in this type of class statewide because the students seem very receptive to the idea.

He said the beginner group will be doing a lot of the deconstruction on the structure, and will spend more time in the classroom on basic concepts.

"This class in particular, they do a lot of conceptbased projects from their geometry lessons and try to turn it into a construction lesson," McFarren said. "For instance, today they are doing barricades and sawhorses. They learn how to use the speed square and figuring out angles, both in the shop and in the classroom."

Student Linsey Giraud said she is looking forward to everything about the class.

"My dad was a construction worker when I was smaller. I took this class so that I would be able to learn about general construction because that house that we are working on may tell us what we want to be, maybe a contractor," Giraud said.

McFarren said he believes the class and the project will help the students in a variety of ways.

"I think that this is a working community, that

Ishpeming High School geometry in construction students make marks on a board, preparing to cut it at the correct angle. From left are Tanner Fenton, Caitlyn Graham, Ethan Laitinen and Linsey Giraud. (Journal photo by Lisa Bowers)

a lot of them can either get summer jobs easily from programs like this or eventually it may be something that they can earn their living by or a jump start to maybe earn a little bit more because they are higher skilled than some other entry level workers," he said.

Beginner GIC student Dondre Yohe said he looks forward to getting into the structure to gain knowledge in the field, and is grateful for the

opportunity.

"It will teach us about applying geometry concepts to woodworking and basic construction skills. I look forward to being able to translate this to applying geometry concepts to basic woodworking," Yohe said. "I would like to thank the land bank for having bought this house - the land bank, Anne Giroux and the Eagle Mine.”

Giroux said McFarren

and his students will not be going it alone.

"We have an architect, John Larson.

Mike Lempinen will be our designer and Ron Grochowsky will act as the engineer overseeing the construction," Giroux said. "All of these people are donating their time, which I think is a great thing."

She added other community members and businesses have already stepped up to help out

with materials.

Giroux said the authority would like to see the project be self-sustaining.

"Once construction is completed, we are hoping to sell the home to a family and use the proceeds to purchase another house for students to work on," she said.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-486-4401.

Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.

Tech transformation

MAPS wins state funding for robust improvements

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — Superior Hills Elementary School was one of five schools in Michigan selected in June to receive a state grant for robust improvements to its wireless network and classroom technology, including one-to-one devices for every student and teacher.

Assistant Principal of Marquette Senior High School Jon Young applied for the Technology Readiness Infrastructure Grant for every school in the district, but only one Upper Peninsula school could qualify.

“Our vision essentially is to create a studentcentered learning environment in which students can really take ownership for their learning and have access to information and technology,” Young said.

The specific TRIG grant Superior Hills won is for Targeted Site Transformation.

This grant does not award a specific monetary amount, but instead focuses on school outcomes, Young said. The goal is to provide a robust wireless network, updated classroom technology, a mobile device for every student and professional development and support for teachers.

The value of implementation could be upwards of $300,000, Young said.

The district spent an initial $160,000 to order new devices for Superior Hills! 375 students and 20 teachers. They ordered

252 Google Chromebook laptop computers for grades 2-5 and 140 Apple iPads for junior-kindergarten through 1st grade, as these are more intuitive and not keyboardcentric for younger students, Young said.

“What we!re talking about when we say student-centered is we!re talking about creating an environment in which students are taking responsibility for their own learning,” Young said.

So instead of a teacher lecturing in front of rows of desks, students will have more opportunity for active engagement and hands-on learning, helping to improve achievement and productivity, Young said.

The technology will allow students to create and share original work for an authentic audience, learn a more independent and efficient work-flow, as well as improve group collaboration and other outcomes that better reflect professional expectations in most fields, he said.

But ultimately, the success this new technology relies completely on great teaching, he added.

“Technology!s just a tool,” he said. “It!s not a save-all or a magic wand in terms of student growth. It comes down to the teacher, so one of the things we put into our (grant application) was a pretty extensive plan in terms of professional development for teachers, because we feel like in order for teachers to use that technology effective-

ly, they need to have a great understanding of how to incorporate that into instruction.”

Superior Hills competed with almost 30 applications in the Upper Peninsula and northern lower peninsula, out of about 170 total in the state.

The impetus for TRIG is to develop and improve districts! technology infrastructure in preparation for the implementation of online growth assessments, according to TRIG!s website.

Young said the growing need for student access to updated technology and the state!s move toward online testing will present challenges for many school districts over the next decade.

“It is going to be difficult and challenging ... to really implement quality oneto-one programs. The cost is very prohibitive,” Young said. “However, as those changes continue to happen and as the price points continue to come down and the technology continues to improve, the feasibility does become greater.”

For instance, a laptop that six years ago cost $600 to $700, now costs $250, he said. Compare that to the average cost of a textbook at $100, along with the many added benefits and applications of computers, and the cost looks more reasonable, he said.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Above, Jake Garrow and Lucy Bartlett, students at Graveraet Middle School in Marquette, use computers provided by the MAPS One-to-One Inititative. Below, students in Marty Paulsen!s fifth-grade class at Graveraet Elementary School use their Chromebook laptop computers to review answers to a recent quiz. While Marquette fifthgraders have had Chromebooks since 2014, the school board has approved $650,000 to provide all students and teachers in the district with their own portable computer devices starting next fall. (Journal photos by Mary Wardell)

8H — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30

PROGRESS2016

Generosity in spades

Bond approved

Gwinn couple leaves $1.6M to Gwinn schools, UPAWS

MAPS OKs bond proposal

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer GWINN — Ruth and Philip Spade, who passed away in 2013 and 2014 respectively, left their entire estate to two causes close to their hearts.

They established a scholarship fund of more than $800,000 for graduates of Gwinn Area Community Schools through the Philip A. Spade and Ruth M. Spade Trust.

The trust leaves the same amount to the Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter to assist in their campaign to build a new animal shelter, according to David Wills of Gwinn, the executor of their estate.

Wills and his wife Judy were long-time friends of the Spades.

Wills said more funds will be split evenly between the two groups as land acquisition is completed over the next year.

“That was her love and that was Phil!s love also, was children and animals, and they specifically said they wanted to have it distributed to those two areas,” Wills said.

Scholarship funds will be administered jointly by the GACS district and the Marquette County Community Foundation, Wills said.

GACS Superintendent Tom Jayne said he was somewhat speechless when he learned about the gracious gift.

“I can!t say enough about Mr. and Mrs. Spade and their generosity,” Jayne said. “Evidently, we understand that the value of education was dear to them.

We promise that we will be good stewards of their money and their trust, and their gift will keep on giving to better our students as they enter the adult world.”

The scholarship fund, totaling $837,415, will be invested, with 90 percent of the interest awarded annually, as stipulated by the trust, Jayne said. The scholarships will go to Gwinn High School seniors who have excelled academically and plan to attend a four-year program at an accredited university.

Awards will be granted by the district!s scholarship committee, made up of members of the board of education and administration, with preference given to students who attended Gilbert Elementary School or another elementary school in the district, in accordance with the trust.

Ruth Spade was principal at Gilbert for 26 years, Wills said.

Jayne said he expects fund growth in the 4-6 percent range, leading to scholarship awards totaling $30,000 to $45,000 per year.

The Spades, who formed the trust in 2004, were residents of Gwinn most of their lives. Philip was a U.S.

Air Force veteran who taught science at Gwinn Middle School for 26 years. Ruth was first an elementary school teacher, then a district reading specialist. At 26, she became principal at K.I. Sawyer, then Gilbert elementary school from 1967 until her retirement in 1993. They were both alumni of Northern Michigan University.

In retirement, the Spades remained active in the Gwinn community.

Ruth served on the Gwinn school board, the Forsyth Township Public Library board, the League of Women Voters and the Forsyth Township Historical Society, among other organizations. Philip was an outdoorsman, a skilled carpenter and a pilot who built his own airplanes.

The Spades, married almost 56 years, were animal lovers and wellknown in the community as “very, very nice people,” Wills said.

“She and Phil didn!t have any children, but she treated all her (school) children as her own,” Wills said. “She really loved her job and she was very interested in all of her children at the schools.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-2282500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

In top photo, Ruth Spade is seen with her dog, Toto. (Journal file photo) Bottom photo, Phillip Spade is seen pushing his 1959 Piper Tripacer into a garage at Sawyer International Airport. (Journal file photo)

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — The Marquette school board in February unanimously approved a bond proposal to go before voters May 3.

The bond will help pay for six facilities projects, including the addition of six classrooms at Superior Hills Elementary School and a new auxiliary gym.

The proposal will ask voters whether Marquette Area Public Schools should borrow $6.285 million, to be paid for by levying a millage of .2 mills that would basically extend an old millage voters have been paying since 1994.

A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of state equalized property value.

The old millage rate — which is currently set to expire in 2020 — will be reduced from .58 mills to .38 mills in the coming year, and the new millage would bring it back to .58 mills, extending its life until 2030.

Millage rates decrease over time as the borrowed sum is paid off, because the principle and interest declines and property values usually go up.

The average rate taxpayers would pay over the 15-year life of the new bond is projected to be .44 mills.

Assistant Superintendent Deb Barry said at a Thursday work session that the administration is minimizing the financial burden on the taxpayers by making this bond a smooth transition with minimal changes to tax rates.

“Basically the amount

that we pay each year (with funding from the millage) — current debt with the new debt — will remain about $700,000 a year for principle and interest,” Barry said. “So that!s kind of the smoothing technique of how we do this so the millage rate isn!t a burden to the taxpayer.”

The total cost of the proposed projects is nearly $8 million, with the difference to be made up with money from the district!s general fund.

Besides the classroom addition and the new practice gym, MAPS would use the bond for football and track upgrades, Shiras Planetarium improvements, expansions to the Kaufman Auditorium dressing rooms and a computer makers lab at the high school.

Superintendent Bill Saunders said most of the projects have existed for a long time as needs or wants, but that the district has, in previous bond and sinking fund proposals, prioritized other projects instead.

Recent and anticipated increases to elementary enrollment necessitate more classroom space, he said.

Trustee Scott Brogan said he is impressed by the scope of the projects, which cover necessities — that would otherwise take general fund dollars out of the classroom — as well as things the district ought to do.

“And when you look at the cross-section of students that it!s going to impact, it touches elementary, it touches the sciences, it touches the arts,

Lyle Warner

101 Bank Street Ishpeming, MI 49849 906-485-6385

it touches athletics. I think that!s great,” Brogan said.

The Shiras Planetarium is currently not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, having been built just before ADA went into effect.

The building, which is attached to Marquette Senior High School, has a narrow staircase leading to the theater and a bathroom that cannot accommodate a wheelchair.

Planetarium Director Rachel Pomeroy said staff have to carry people with disabilities up and down the stairs.

In addition, one of the planetarium!s projectors is broken and its replacement will cost $200,000, she said.

Athletic Director Blaise Zimmer said athletic upgrades would allow the district to host more events — attracting visiting teams and families to boost the local economy — and reduce the practice demands on the current gym.

Board President Rich Rossway said after years of cuts and school closures, it!s nice to finally turn a corner — attracting more students and improving the district.

“Ultimately, it will be the public and the taxpayer that will be determining whether we move forward on (the projects), so I encourage everyone to vote and to become educated regarding the millage,” Rossway said.

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Thomas D. McFadden

200 N. Front St., Ste. 1 Marquette, MI 49855 906-226-2852

Eric R. Luttinen, AAMS®

Christian Verardi

Paul D. Heinonen

Douglas R. Gordon

400 US Hwy 41 Ste 104B Negaunee, MI 49866 906-475-5024

200 N. Front St., Ste. 1 Marquette, MI 49855 906-226-2852

1332 US 41 West Ishpeming, MI 49849 906-485-6630

115 S. Lakeshore Blvd., Ste. B Marquette, MI 49855 906-228-4600

The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30 — 9H

PROGRESS2016

JJ Packs sends healthy food home Weekend meal packs fight hunger in Marquette schools

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — With just over a year under their belt, the founders of J.J. Packs — a weekend food program at Marquette elementary schools — have been shocked by just how fast and impactfull their program has grown.

Made up of all volunteers, the program collects donations to buy nutritious foods that are sent home to elementary students in need to ensure they have healthy snacks and meals for the weekend.

J.J. Packs grew from 30 packs in January 2015 to 180 packs in December, said cofounder Kevin Carr at a school board meeting.

“I couldn!t believe it,” Carr said, describing how he ran the numbers twice to check his math. “We were serving 180 children in one week. What was more impressive was not that we served 180 kids, but that we could and we were able to.”

The program began as a conversation between two neighbors, both parents in the Marquette Area Public Schools Dis-

trict. Carr, father of two, and Habby Vigfusdottir, mother of three, founded J.J. Packs with the goal of ending childhood hunger right in their hometown.

“What we do is we get healthy, nutritious food to children in need on weekends when school!s free lunch is not available to them,” Vigfusdottir said.

“Our program!s volunteers discretely deliver food packs to children on Fridays before they head home from school.”

Out of nearly 1,400 elementary students in Marquette, almost 400 fall below the poverty line, Carr said.

“Our guideline is to reach every child that!s on the income-based free lunch program, but we don!t stop there,” Carr said. “If somebody asks for a pack, we don!t deny the pack. We don!t know all their situations at home. It!s not for us to judge if they need help.

We want to be there.”

J.J. Packs sends a letter home to students that gives parents the option to simply check a box to start receiving the weekend food packs. Families can also sign up for J.J. Packs by calling their elementary school office.

Bond passed Issue is approved with sweeping support

By MARY WARDELL Journal Staff Writer MARQUETTE — The transportation and technology bond proposal for Superior Central School District passed with 71 percent of the vote in the November election.

Votes were 334 in favor and 136 not in favor. The bond was the only item on the ballot in Alger County.

The district, which serves part of AuTrain Township and Limestone, Mathias and Rock River townships, will borrow $1.42 million for the purpose of partially remodeling, furnishing and equipping the district!s kindergarten-12th grade building for security, communication and technology systems; acquiring and installing instructional technology; and purchasing school buses.

The estimated millage to be levied for the bond in 2016 is 2.73 mills, or $2.73 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation. When added to remaining old bonds, the

levy will total 5.1 mills, which is a total reduction of 1.5 mills next year due old bonds being paid off.

Bill Valima, K-12 principal and superintendent, said he is pretty excited.

“I was very happy with the 71 percent approval,” Valima said. “It shows how much (the voters) value the school, how important it is to the community definitely, ... and how it is the center of the community.”

The bond will allow the school to purchase eight new buses over the next three years, new instructional technology, wireless throughout the building, new and mobile computer labs, a new PA system, security system and sound system for the gym, Valima said.

He offered “a huge thank you to the community for the support.”

Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

While the program resembles many like it sprouting up around the country, J.J. Packs emphasizes healthy food.

“Nutrition is the backbone of our program,” Vigfusdottir said. “There are many programs throughout the nation like this, thankfully, and often the programs consist of nonperishable items, which makes sense. But for us, we really wanted to take it a step further and we really wanted to give kids nutritious, healthy foods.”

Volunteers shop weekly for things like carrots, cucumbers, nut butters, whole wheat bread, oatmeal and more. Foods with artificial flavors and preservatives, lots of sugar and highly processed items are rarely included.

“So we pack fresh fruits, vegetables, non-artificial ingredient canned goods,” Vigfusdottir said.

"We're not only looking to give our kids certain amounts of calories, but much more healthy, nutritious foods and we continually try to do better.”

Because of its emphasis on healthy food, the uniformity of the packs and the value of their dollar shopping in bulk, J.J. Packs founders prefer monetary donations.

The program is named after Vigfusdottir!s son, Jakob Johannsson. “(Jakob) was only 11 years old when he had the idea of selling bracelets that he handmade and sold in Iceland, Germany, Sweden and in

America, raised (just under) $1,300, and gave it to the food bank,” Vigfusdottir said. “That was quite an inspiration for his mom and I thought well, he!s 11. If we all stepped up, we could do pretty amazing things.”

The Rotary Club of Marquette in December awarded J.J. Packs $6,200 toward purchasing nutritional foods.

Carr said the Rotary!s donation brought the program six months further along to help ensure J.J. Packs is sustainable long after he or cofounder Habby Vigfusdottir step down.

Carr thanked the Rotary and the many businesses, organizations and individuals who donate and volunteer to help end childhood hunger in Marquette.

“We!re really lucky — we!re really lucky to be in this district,” Carr said at the board meeting. “I want to thank everyone that!s here and every one of our sponsors, all of our rotary groups and all of our private donors and all of our board members. Thank you for allowing us to help our kids.”

JJ Packs is always looking for volunteers and food or monetary donations. Sign up on Facebook or email Vigfusdottir at habby@bethebestofyou.com or Carr at kevin.carr78@gmail.com Mary Wardell can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is mwardell@miningjournal.net.

Get involved: ! To donate or volunteer, find JJ Packs on Facebook, or email Habby Vigfusdottir at habby@bethebestofyou.com or Kevin Carr at kevin.carr78@gmail.com. ! Make checks payable to JJ Packs and mail to Gravearat Elementary School at 611 N. Front St., Marquette, MI 49855.

At left, from left, Addie Goymerac and Kristin Johnson Marchiol, parents and JJ Packs volunteers, fill up Cheerios snack packs on March 27 last year. (Photo courtesy of JJ Packs)

“Engaging Youth and Families to discover through interactive exhibits and learning opportunities.”

Visit our Website or Facebook page www.upchildrensmuseum.org Thanks to the kind people and businesses of Marquette County, The U.P. Children’s Museum is celebrating our 19th year of bringing Hands-On Fun to the children of our area and vacationers from around the world! We could not have done it without your support! The programs listed below are ways to help support the museum so we can keep sparking ideas in a new generation of entrepreneurs who will change the world!

- Join the Playmakers Club and help all families enjoy the museum! Provide annual memberships to qualifying families through charitable donations.

- Contribute to the Yellow Brick Road... our transformation of the celebration courtyard with it’s magical yellow brick road – your tax-deductible donation will be memorialized by an engraved brick, paver, planter, bush or vine.

- Annual Fundraisers

- Website “Wish List” Donations

- Celebrity Art Auction

- Culinary Journey

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! 123 W. Baraga Ave., Marquette upchildrensmuseum.org • 226-3911 Visit our Facebook page!

10H — The Mining Journal, Wednesday, March 30

PROGRESS2016

Ishpeming Public School District No. 1

r C e entury of h t o n . .

A . e c Excellen

Ishpeming Public School District has historically been characterized as an institution of educational excellence. After 150 years, Ishpeming continues to lead the area in unique experiences for their students. Ishpeming High School is the only local high school accredited with North Central Association, and the longest NCA accredited school in the State of Michigan. We are rated one of the Best High Schools in the Nation by U.S. News and World Report.

Our students are prepared for a continually changing world, by being provided a dynamic and engaging educational experience. Our options include: advanced placement and college preparatory classes, Middle College program through Northern Michigan University, Career and Technical Education classes, and Dual Enrollment options. Other elective classes at Ishpeming Middle and High School are chorus, band, various foreign languages, and business management classes. Our elective and special options at Birchview Elementary include a string instrument program, music, art, and physical education. Our buildings have a total of seven computer labs, Wi-Fi connectivity, and one-toone Chromebooks available to all classes.

The facilities at Ishpeming Public School District have been completely renovated to preserve the historical presentation, while building additional space to fit the needs of the 21st Century learner. Let Ishpeming Public Schools be your school of choice.

For additional information on how we can meet the needs of your children and your family, call one of our building principals listed below.

Proud to be a Hematite, Carrie Meyer

Vicki Lempinen, Principal Ishpeming Middle/High School 319 E. Division Street Ishpeming, MI 49849 906.485.1066 vlempinen@ishpemingschools.com

Dan Barry, Principal Birchview Elementary 663 Poplar Street Ishpeming, MI 49849 906.485.6341 dbarry@ishpemingschools.com