On Friday, February 3, ABTE was visited by some special well-known African-Americans.  Five staff members played the roles of these individuals and went through a list of biographical highlights of their lives and the special contributions that they have made.  ABTE students were asked to guess who each of these guests were.  It was an enjoyable event to kick-off African-American History Month.  Thanks very much to the Special Events Committee for planning and organizing this event.
Our special guest visitors were:

Students, parents, and families are invited to celebrate Black History Month throughout February.  ABTE has a variety of activities planned to celebrate this event; some of the activities will be in the classroom and some will be whole-school -- during the day and after-school.  Parents are welcome to attend the assembly on Friday, February 3 beginning at 2:30 PM, where students will have an opportunity to interact with famous African-Americans from history.  Thanks to members of both the Black History Month Committee and the Special Events Committee for organizing these activities!
Photocredit:  http://brainz.org/

The Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School welcomes Hightouch Hightech Science to our school.  They have been providing fun and educational science experiences to our students for the last several years:  each experience is a hands-on, up close & personal activity that our students have really enjoyed.  This year's experiences include: "Newton in a Nutshell" for Kindergarten; "Weather or Not" for 1st grade; "What's the Matter" for 2nd grade; "Sounds Like Fun" for 3rd grade; "Edison's Workshop" for 4th grade; and "Up, Up and Away" for 5th grade.  Each experince is grade appropriate, related to science grade level content standards, and involves an activity that the students do not regularly do.  To learn more about Hightouch Hightech Science click the image above or visit their website at http://sciencemadefun.net/. 

The Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School family would like to welcome some new faces at our school as we begin the New Year:  Candice Betrosian (Title I Math teacher) and Justine Rae Cote (Title I reading interventionist).  Both of these women will be serving students who are achieving below grade level, as part of ABTE's Response to Intervention (RtI) program.  We would also like to welcome Vida Steele who will be performing her Student Teaching at ABTE over the next few months;  she is paired up with Mrs. Kalkun (2nd grade) and Mrs. Frazier (Special Education), and she will have a lot to learn from both of these teachers.

As 2011 comes to a close, the staff and students of the Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School wish you and your family a very joyous, safe and prosperous 2012.

On December 23, 2011, ABTE held its first semi-annual Multiplication Bee for students in grades 3-5.  Students have been learning, memorizing, and practicing their multiplication facts for the last month and a half in preparation for this contest.  The students were well-prepared and excited about the competition.  While every student worked hard and did well, we applaud the winners from each grade level:  Isaac Dobis (3rd grade), Claudio Ramirez (4th grade), and Vashun Patterson (5th grade).  The top 15 finalists from each grade competed against one another to determine the ABTE Multiplication Bee Champion, and the winner was Ingrid Ramirez.  The closing of the contest featured students in grades 2-5 performing the Multiplication Hustle -- a performance that even Santa Claus had to take time out from his busy schedule to attend!  Special thanks go to Mrs. Frazier and Mrs. Malik for organizing this event, and for all the teachers and parents for helping the students get ready.  Students are already preparing for the Spring Multiplication Bee.  [Visit the Photo Gallery to see more pictures]

The holiday season kicked off at ABTE with our first annual Spaghetti with Santa dinner and celebration, which culminated with a visit from Santa!  Students, parents, and staff were entertained by the ABTE Dance Club and holiday songs were song by a choir made up of members of the Student Counil and the Service Squad.  Thank you to the members of the ABTE Parent-Teacher Committee (PTC) who worked so hard to make this event possible:  especially Ms. Dewar, Ms. Obermeyer, Mr. Russo, and Mr. Place

The students and staff of the Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School took another step forward in becoming an "Environmentally Green" school and workplace with the kick-off of a new Recycling Program.

Students and staff joined together this afternoon for a Pep Rally to learn and get excited about Recycling!  Midstates Recycling Services has worked with our Green Team to help implement a recycling program that will be user friendly.  Every classroom and office throughout the building now has a cardboard PAPER container and there are PLASTIC BOTTLE bins located near each water fountain -- on both the main floor and upstairs.  The students learned what sort of materials CAN and CANNOT be put into these recycling bins.  Students are encouraged to bring in recycleable items from home too:  paper, plastic bottles and cardboard (borken down, please).

Each month Midstates will provide our school with an Ecological Report that will show how many pounds of paper we recycled and how our efforts had a positive effect on the environment.  If everyone gets involved, we can make a world of difference!

Thanks to members of the Green Team for making this long-standing dream of having a recycling program at our school a reality and to Midstates helping us take these first steps.

From:  Dearborn Police Department

On November 9, 2011 at approximately 2:00 PM, FEMA and the FCC will test the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

1) The Test is national and will come from FEMA.
2) All radio, television, cable and satellite operators will air the test at exactly the same time. Viewers and listeners usually change channels when a test comes on. This time it will be on every channel simultaneously.
3) The system test will take place on 11-9-11.

Similar to local emergency alert system tests, during the nationwide test on November 9, an audio message will interrupt television and radio programming indicating: “This is a test.” The nationwide test will last approximately *_30 seconds_*_ instead of 2-3 minutes, as originally announced_.* *This change has been made to reduce the disruption to the American public, while still maintaining our ability to test the system’s nationwide capabilities.

We are asking everyone to help spread the word. And remember, on November 9 at 2:00 PM EST, "Don’t stress; it’s only a test."

For videos, PSAs, and additional information please, visit FEMA FAQ’s page [http://www.fema.gov/eastest/faqs.shtm ] and the FCC EAS Test page [http://www.fcc.gov/nationwideeastest ].