INSIDE

Man dies after being trapped under steel See Page 3-A

Dads increasing involvement at Tyler See Page 1-B

COMMUNITY

The
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VOL. 29, NO. 4 THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2013 Weave the Web:
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Board picks Elwell eliminator

Cost for tearing down former school is $185K
By Jerry LaVaute
Special Writer

In their regular meeting on Jan. 14, officials on the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education voted 6-1 to accept a bid of $123,000 from Jule Swartz and Sons Excavating to demolish and remove the remains of Elwell School in Sumpter Township. Trustee Sherry Frazier voted against the proposal, asking that the decision be deferred to allow more time to explore other options. In the meeting, added funding of $62,000 was also approved, primarily for a separate operation

to abate potentially dangerous and township officials and other substances like asbestos before residents had hoped to perhaps demolition, bringing the total acquire the building for a useful cost to $185,000. purpose. Elwell School was built In February 2012, the school in 1958 and is 44,000 square feet. board voted to close Elwell and A white paper prepared by the Haggerty elementary schools due district administration and preto declining enrollsented by Superintendent ment in the school disMike Van Tassel said it VAN BUREN trict. Neither school would cost the school re-opened in the fall. PUBLIC SCHOOLS district $1.7 million to reOn Dec. 10, the open Elwell as a school, school board voted including $870,000 to hook 5-2 to demolish Elwell. Haggerty up to a nearby sewer system. When School, on the other hand, may it closed, Elwell was served by a re-open in the fall as a new septic system. home to the Early Childhood In the demolition bidding proDevelopment Center currently at cess, 13 bids were received, ranging the Edgemont School site, a prefrom $123,000 to $219,000. Local conschool program, and a transition tractor Davenport quoted $205,000 program designed for students for the job. over 18. When Frazier asked for a delay Elwell is the only building in in awarding the job, other board the Van Buren School District members viewed it as a bid to relocated in Sumpter Township, open the earlier decision and were

not comfortable revisiting the issue. Frazier said she expected to see options for the fate of Elwell in the discussion on Dec. 10, and felt that they needed to be considered before proceeding. She was supported by a few people in the audience, including Sumpter Township resident Mary Ban. Toward the end of the discussion, school board Vice President Martha Toth acknowledged that not everyones priorities were achieved by the decision. But, Toth said, The fact that you didnt get what you want doesnt mean we werent listening. Jerry LaVaute is a special writer for Heritage Media. Follow his blogs Pas Blog and The Eye of the Storm at http://jlavaute.blogspot. com. He can be reached at glavaute@gmail.com or call 1-734740-0062.

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INDEX
Editorial Calendar
Teacher Jennifer Runyan works with a group of fth-grade math students at Owen Intermediate School.

Page 4-A Page 8-A Page 1-C

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Students embrace hands-on geometry lessons

News Tip Hotline: 248-745-4613

tudents in Jennifer Runyans fifthgrade math class at Owen Intermediate School traded pencil and paper for blocks last month as they embarked on a new way of learning geometry lessons. The students were using Pattern Blocks to create tessellation patterns as a part of their study of geometry. The blocks, a part of the Everyday Mathematics program

adopted by Van Buren Public Schools this year, provide a way for students to express their knowledge in a creative, hands-on way. Using the blocks allows students to problem solve as they work to create patterns, Runyan said, They can turn their ideas into reality and if what they planned doesnt work, they can rearrange the blocks easily. Studying tessellations, or patterns of

shapes that cover a surface completely without overlaps or gaps, is an important way for students to gain a deeper understanding of the angles of polygons in geometry. It was especially exciting to see the students help each other problem solve and come up with new patterns, Runyan said. I could tell which students really grasped the concepts as I listened to them teach each other.

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