Long-time Carpenter Foster Grandparent volunteer, Rubye Ogburn, was honored at state and county events for her dedication and service. Ogburn received Michigan Community Action’s Volunteer of the Year Award at a state-wide event in Lansing and was recognized with a resolution at the June 3^rd Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting.

During Legislative Day hosted by Michigan Community Action at the state capital, Ogburn accepted an award for 13 years of volunteer service with the Foster Grandparent Program. Several awards were given to various legislators, clients, and volunteers to honor the hard work and collective impact of those serving various Michigan communities.

The Freeman Environmental Youth Council is turning student concern into action, pairing an idling-reduction campaign with a deeper exploration of how Ann Arbor Public Schools’ electric buses can improve air quality on and around school campuses.

The effort just received a boost from a $4,300 Sustaining Ann Arbor Together neighborhood grant, which will fund anti-idling signage across district campuses and printed materials to encourage AAPS families to adopt transportation habits that reduce emissions at schools. The signs will be installed along school driveways and in high school parking lots to coincide with the campaign’s planned launch at the beginning of the school year.

Twenty-two Ann Arbor Public Schools retirees walked the red carpet at a district celebration for their years of work. The retiring employees attending the reception combined service with AAPS is nearly 700 years. Overall this year, 87 retirees shared a combined 2,074 years of service to the AAPS community.

Principal Cory McElmeel highlighted that the signed beam is particularly meaningful. “Your names and excitement will become part of the structure of the building itself,” McElmeel said. “A reminder that schools are built not just from steel and concrete but from people, relationships, learning and hope.”

The students have changed in the sense that technology has developed a much stronger influence on them than in 2010. They need more support navigating interactions with peers, communicating with others, and going through productive struggles to learn and grow. We have more students with social and behavioral needs that impact teaching and the learning of their peers.