Archive - Jun 2012

“We’re going to be very aggressive in our search for a new superintendent,” said Tecumseh School Board Vice President Jim Rice at Monday night’s regular meeting of the trustees. “We plan to have the position posted in August.”

The announcement came as an action item on the agenda for a vote by all members and the motion to approve the timeline and process for the search passed unanimously.

Current Superintendent Mike McAran recently told the board during his annual evaluation that he plans to retire after the 2012-2013 school year, which allows the board a year to find his replacement.

The board members plan to review the applicants themselves rather than incurring the expense of hiring a superintendent search company as has been done on occasion in the past.

The board hopes to have a good selection of applicants when the posting for the superintendent’s position is closed in early September, then sift through the applications and choose some candidates for interviews by early November. The trustees will then conduct the interviews and narrow the candidates down to a few top prospects, who will be invited to visit the school district in January. The final round of interviews is expected to occur in early February 2013 with the next superintendent to be named in March.

Rice, who was presiding over the Monday night meeting in President Ed Tritt’s absence, said after the meeting that the board felt that each trustee had enough collective experience to forego hiring a search company. “We have the resources and the contacts necessary to help us formulate the questions and create interview strategies to find the most highly qualified person for the job,” he said. “The size of our district is both an advantage and a disadvantage for attracting a new superintendent. We could be an important step up for someone coming from a smaller district, but we might not be big enough to attract someone who has a large school district in mind for their next move.”

Detroit Lions superstar wide receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. presented Tecumseh High School 2012 graduate Brad Vannatter and five other Michigan seniors scholarships during his Annual Catching Dreams Scholarship Athlete Extravaganza and Fundraiser at the Weston Book Cadillac Hotel on Saturday, June 23.

The “black-tie” event began at 6:30 p.m., with a VIP Reception and Silent Auction and followed with dinner, program, and presentation of scholarships, each in excess of $2,000, approximately an hour later.

The Lions’ No. 81 wore a black suit, yellow shirt and a white rose pinned to his lapel similar to the scholarship recipients. Regardless of being in his formal attire, Vannatter said it wasn’t hard to recognize Johnson simply by his size and demeanor.

“It was really unbelievable, the whole thing,” Vannatter said. “The first time you see him, you’re in awe. His hands are just massive.”

To qualify for a Calvin Johnson Jr., Foundation Inc., scholarship the recipients had to have been graduating seniors, already have a partial college football scholarship, and had at least a 2.5 grade point average upon their high school graduation.

In addition, the students also had to submit two letters of recommendation (one from a counselor/teacher and one from a coach): a personal statement (of at least 300 words) about career goals and how this scholarship will help achieve them: a copy of high school transcript and SAT/ACT score report; and copy of their college acceptance letter.

Construction on a 20-bed facility expansion at Tecumseh Place is making good progress on property formerly known as the McKee Farm near Busch’s on Tecumseh’s east side.

“It’s going very well,” said Ginny Ingle, who co-owns Tecumseh Place under the name of Drew’s Place Properties with her husband, Jim, and her brother, Jeff Wilcox. “The good weather helped and it looks like a building over there now, with a roof and windows, but no doors yet.”

Tecumseh City Council approved a re-zoning of the property in May of 2011 from Single Family Residential (RA-1) to Multi-Family Residential (RM-1) in order for the project to proceed. The groundbreaking for the expansion took place at the end of February.

The new facilty will be named The Fieldstone at Tecumseh Place.
There were a few engineering wrinkles to work out related to the sewer system, however Ingle said those issues have been taken care of.

“We’ve had to adjust some things on the recommendation of the engineering firm the city contracts with, but we’ve had really good communication with the city, with Kevin Welch (city manager) and with Brad Raymond (building department director),” Ingle said. “These things were easily worked out with a little bit of effort.”

She said that some of the things that have been done now can be considered an investment for the future, with just under $2 million invested in the project so far, if the company opts for further expansion at a later date.

“We’ve designed for expansion so some of the things we’ve invested in could be utilized for a future facility and the infrastructure would already be in place,” Ingle said. “A lot depends on the market and community need.” The new structure will have a portico where residents and visitors can pull up to the door.

“If we were to expand, a second building could be built to share that portico,” she said.

Tecumseh High School recently announced the hiring of two new varsity coaches.

Eddy Foley was hired as the varsity boys cross-country coach, replacing Jim Brown, who transferred to LISD. Foley is a technician for Tecumseh Public Schools. He has assisted long distance track runners for the past three seasons at Tecumseh. Foley was an All-State runner in high school cross-country and was a member of Grand Haven’s state title team. He also ran track at Trine University.

Jared Adamson, formerly of Saint Clair, was hired as the varsity girls basketball coach, replacing Jamie Mossburg. He played basketball at Concordia University and received a NAIA All-American honorable mention. Adamson was a physical education teacher at North Augusta High School in South Carolina and the varsity girls basketball coach. He led the team to two regional titles in five years as head coach.

Two Tecumseh High School varsity baseball players were recently named to the Michigan High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State teams.

Tecumseh senior catcher Jared Powell received First Team All-State honors in Division 2 while Tecumseh junior outfielder Jacob Britt was named to the Division 2 Second Team All-State.

Powell and Britt led Tecumseh to a school-record 29 wins and the Southeastern Conference White Division championship
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Powell batted .416 with 12 doubles, three home runs, 41 RBIs and a .527 on-base percentage during the regular season. Britt batted .394 with 10 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 38 RBIs. On the mound, Britt went 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA in seven appearances.

Tecumseh’s John Terry and Eric Eldred earned Academic All-State honors.

Marion “Bizzie” Ford, 84, of Tecumseh, passed away at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ypsilanti, on Tuesday, June 26, 2012. He was born June 26, 1928 in Morenci, Mich., the son of Marion Earl and Thelma Margaret (Watson) Ford. He was married to Mary Lou Gallup on October 7, 1951 and she survives.

Marion was a graduate of Ohio State University and the University of Baltimore Law School. He was employed as a Patent Attorney for Wacker Silicone for 27 1/2 years, retiring January 1, 1994. He was a member of the American Bar Association, American Patent Law Association, and was nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Marion was a member of the Tecumseh United Methodist Church. His greatest joy in life was his family and the time he spent with them. He was a jokester who enjoyed “nicknaming” everyone, feeding his squirrels, watching baseball, playing cards, debating (and winning) anyone about politics, and enjoyed his yard work.

Marion is survived by his wife, Mary Lou, son, Stephen (Tracie) Ford of Kenai, Alaska; three daughters, Lori (Jeff) Rud of Juneau, Alaska, Susan (Alan) Szepanski of Traverse City, Mich., and Julie (Dan) Kehl of Mattawan, Mich; one brother, Robert (Mary Lou) Ford of Waldron, Mich., and one sister, Colleen (Richard) Bernath of Archbold, Oh; four grandchildren, Ryan and Shane Rud and Katie and Becca Ford. He was preceded in death by his parents. Marion was a great husband, father, grandfather, and brother, and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.