This year’s Optimist Essay Contest topic wasn’t easy on contestants, who had to write 400-500 words about the “Power of Youth.” “When I looked at the topic, I had no idea what to write,” said Taylor Benson, 12th grader at Clarkston High School who earned second place out of 24 entries. “I looked at it […]
Want to get rid of some old cell phones? Independence Elementary School’s Alpha Club can help. The 55 students in the club are collecting cell phones and other items through the end of the month. “Cell phones, batteries, ink cartridges ? things that won’t decompose even in a million years,” said Jillian Ritchey, club treasurer. […]
Cub Scout Pack 163 of Independence Elementary School broke in their new, aluminum race track with their Pinewood Derby, March 7. “We had enough extra funds to buy this track ? the boys really stepped up this year,” said Cub Master Don Ridge. “They sold a lot of popcorn.” Each scout earned a trophy, and […]
Hundreds of mystery buffs filled Pine Knob’s Carriage House for ‘Murder with Leprechauns? dinner theater, March 14, benefiting Clarkston Area Optimist Club. After dinner and a few drinks, participants were treated to a St. Patrick’s Day-themed murder in their midst, and had to find the culprit by questioning likely suspects. Successful detectives earned baskets filled […]
Firefighters, police, dentist, pilot, and other local professionals descended on Springfield Plains Elementary for its annual Celebrity Readers day, March 11. “It’s fun. They come in and donate their time,” said Juanita Kostecki, event chair. ‘We have a good number of repeats, readers who are tried and true, but we also look for new readers.” […]
I had a visitor in the office last week, someone planning something special for a local luminary. “Great,” I said. “I’ll get a story in the paper about it.” The visitor had other ideas. He didn’t want it in the paper. He wanted the plans to be a secret. Since I knew a lot of […]
Oakland County planners will share first-phase results of their Green Infrastructure Vision plan at Independence Green, 1-2:30 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Independence Oaks County Park. Jim Keglovitz, senior planner for Oakland County, and Kristen Wiltfang, county GIS technician, will show how they identify natural areas as large “hubs” and smaller “sites,” all connect by […]
Since the ninth grade, a group of Clarkston teenagers spent part of each summer around the country helping others. Now Clarkston High School seniors, their Righteous Mission trips with Clarkston United Methodist Church took them from rural Tennessee, where they slept in tents, to innercity Chicago, where they worked with the Salvation Army to help […]
School budget cuts this year could mean outsourced custodians, substitute teachers, and cooks, among a host of other changes. Administration came up with more than $4 million in school-district cuts, but doesn’t recommend half of them. “The list is painful ? I’m not happy with it,” said Superintendent Dr. Al Roberts at the March 23 […]
As students Katie Ploss and Anna Gencay spoke about modernist poetry, classmates Brad Villeneuve and Kylee Haase were busy coloring a piece of paper with crayons. They weren’t being rude. They were following along with Ploss, Gencay, Danielle Daigle, and Quinn Dabrowski’s group presentation. ‘Mixing colors and coming up with new ones – that’s modernism,? […]