Breakfast Celebrates Student Success
(Crystal A. Proxmire, The Ferndale 115 News, Feb. 15, 2012 ed)
“If you think the Super Bowl Ad with Clint Eastwood got you going, boy you out to hear these kids.” That’s what Northern Television owner Michael Sheppard said about the twenty or so teens that met with Ferndale Area Chamber of Commerce members at the annual Ferndale Schools Chamber Breakfast.
Local business owners like Sheppard came to Ferndale High School on Tuesday, Feb. 7 2012 to meet with students and enjoy delicious food prepared by Chef Jeremy and his staff (who you can read more about here). Students from Ferndale High School, Ferndale Middle School and University High School introduced themselves and talked about what they liked best in their schools. The students also sat with business owners and chatted over breakfast, giving the adults and the students an opportunity to communicate professionally and to learn.
“I like the involvement of the Ferndale Chamber to come here and see what we have to offer. I like that the Mayor from Oak Park and someone from the Congressman’s office [Sandy Levin’s aide] was here to see what we’re doing,” said Ferndale High School Senior Molly Breen-Bondie. “We have a lot in athletic and fine arts.” Breen-Bondie is in orchestra and soccer.
She added that the support she gets in Ferndale is “amazing,” and said “It’s awesome to come back to school after a big weekend and have everybody being proud of you, saying ‘great job’ in the halls and stuff. It feels good.”
Rachel Dery, another Ferndale High Senior, is the editor of the school newspaper. “There is always a lot of stuff going on,” she said. “You can be on the newspaper, or do sports, or music. There is something for everybody.”
University High School Junior Adrianna Waves wants to study medicine at John Hopkins University so she can work in emergency medicine. “I really like University High School because it gives me an aspect on college life. I’m in DECA. I’m in Honors Society and Basketball. So we love UHS because it gives us a good understanding of life,” she said.
Students and administrators talked about some of the District’s successes, including the fact they have been State Marching Band Champs seven of the past eight years. They are in the top 100 school districts in the country for music education. And as University High School celebrates its seventh year, administration is proud that students may now participate in athletics as long as they keep a 2.5 g.p.a.
Terry Poduska of the Royal Oak YMCA said she was “very impressed” with the students and with the Chamber. “I’m from Royal Oak and you don’t hear much about the schools and what the students are doing,” she said. “It’s nice to see how many Ferndale business owners care enough to things like this to find out. And it’s nice that the schools have this so people can feel connected.”
Find out more about Ferndale Schools at http://www.ferndaleschools.org.
Find out more about the Ferndale Area Chamber at http://www.ferndalechamber.com/.
Here’s our story on the 2011 breakfast – http://oaklandcounty115.com/2011/02/06/community-breakfast-a-success/
And the 2010 breakfast –
