Heather Kendrick, of Marysville, MI, is a violinist and graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan with degrees in Instrumental Music Education and Organizations. At the U-M School of Music, theatre & Dance, she is Program Director of the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, which established itself as the world’s largest chamber music competition in its inaugural year (2015). She serves on the Board of the Ypsilanti Youth Orchestra and is Operations Director for the Cambridge International String Academy at the University of Cambridge, U.K.

Heather enjoys performing with Detroit’s electro-pop violin and DJ band, NUCLASSICA, which you may have seen on the 2016 season of NBC’s America’s Got Talent. She currently resides in Ann Arbor and was Miss Washtenaw County before earning the title of Miss Michigan in 2017. She was thrilled to represent her beloved Michigan at the 97th annual Miss America Competition this past September.

Big MO is excited to share details of the FIRST POWER UP 2018 Game.

FIRST POWER UP finds FIRST Robotics Competition teams trapped in an 8-bit video game. Each three-team alliance has three ways to help defeat the boss: Tipping the scale or the alliance’s switch in their favor to earn points, exchanging power cubes for power ups (force, boost, and levitate) to gain a temporary advantage during the match, and climbing the scale tower to face the boss. The alliance with the highest score at the end of the match, which includes autonomous and teleoperated periods, defeats the boss and wins the game.

At Kickoff, teams were shown the FIRST POWER UP game field and challenge details for the first time, and received the Kickoff Kit from the Kit of Parts, which is made up of motors, batteries, control system components, construction materials, and a mix of additional automation components – with limited instructions.

Working with adult mentors, students have six weeks to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season’s engineering challenge. Once these young inventors build a robot, their teams will participate in one or more of the global 158 Regional and District events that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students.

Watch for details on competitions. As always, you are welcome to check out the team during events. If you would like to learn more about Big MO call 810-591-7525.

At the Board of Education Meeting on January 9, 2018, Superintendent Kindle and the Board of Education received formal letters of resignation from the Carman-Ainsworth Community School Board from Mrs. Patrice Hatcher and Ms. Joy Crane, effective January 19, 2018. The Board expressed appreciation for Mrs. Hatcher’s and Ms. Crane’s service as members of our Board of Education and wished them well in their future endeavors.

As a result of the above resignations, Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools is seeking qualified and interested candidates who are residents of Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools to fill two Board of Education vacancies. Those persons interested in being considered for the appointments should provide a letter of interest and resume’ by January 19, 2018, 4:00 p.m., to the Superintendent of the Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools, Administration Building, G-3475 W. Court Street, Flint, Michigan 48532.

Students need healthy meals to learn. Carman-Ainsworth offers healthy meals every school day. C-A is participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) as part of the National School Lunch Program. Under this initiative, one free breakfast and one free lunch will be provided to all enrolled Carman-Ainsworth students at no cost.

A parent household survey MUST be completed for all students. A survey can be obtained in the main office at your child’s building. Please return all surveys to the main office.

You can find the breakfast and lunch menus on our website at www.carman.k12.mi.us and in your child’s school main office.

A parent or student will have the option to put money on the student’s account for a student to purchase a second lunch or ala carte items. Students will not be allowed to charge any secondary lunches or ala carte items.

We are excited about the new program for our families. If you have any questions, please contact the Child Nutrition Department at 810-591-3220 or email jyee@carmanainsworth.org.